The Sword Genius of the Magic Empire - Chapter 9
Only Noblemtl
A city on the northern outskirts of Elseid Citadel.
One of the prosperous cities where people come and go peacefully.
It was said to be a city full of high-rise buildings that applied magical engineering based on the capital power of wealthy merchants, and a logistics transportation hub.
‘All the settings were seen in the original.’
But that’s not all.
How long did it take?
As I went deeper into the alleys of the suburban city, the neat buildings and people gradually disappeared.
Enoch glanced around.
Behind the gray building, the exterior facilities, the torn and stuck-on leaflets, and the dizzying lights of the signs appeared, mixed together, creating a shabby street.
Dark alleys lined up behind the high-rise buildings.
“The Empire’s Dark Side”
A dark area deep within the imperial city, different from the seemingly normal outer city.
Since the past, various major clans, including the Elseid family, have been catching the underworld within the empire like rats.
However, despite the struggles of such families, there were many dark families that were not completely eradicated.
‘Certainly, the force was greater than in the original.’
He walked into the alley and took out an envelope containing the mission details from his bosom.
–
Category: Search and Destroy
Content: Recover the cult’s supplies stolen from the southern outskirts of Elseid Fortress and capture/kill the culprit.
Situation: An unidentified group hijacked one of the religious order’s transport machines. Based on the mutual agreement between the religious order and the main group, we dispatched our own personnel to Elseid Territory to conduct a preliminary investigation, but to no avail.
According to prior investigation data, there were no sightings on the road outside the southern fortress, so it is assumed that the Elseid family has already taken it out of the fortress.
Attachment: Reference photos and investigative materials of the stolen materials inside the envelope
Required: After memorizing, shred the document.
–
Sizzle.
As soon as Enoch read the last sentence, he tore up the entire envelope without hesitation and threw it into the sewer drain.
Pieces of paper that are immediately swept away by the water and melt away.
Enoch confirmed it and moved his body into the dark alley.
Anyway, let alone memorizing it, I already know it all.
I checked just in case, and it was exactly as I had seen in the game.
‘It’s fortunate that these familiar roads haven’t changed much.’
Enoch walked to the most remote part of the back alley.
At that moment, across the narrow road where darkness was just beginning to fall.
“hey!”
A man wearing a black robe with a large hood approached me as if he had just noticed me.
He looked drunk, his face reeking of alcohol. He opened his mouth in a twisted tone.
“Damn, it’s so dark I can’t see very well. Stop for a moment. If it’s your first time, you should at least pay a toll.”
One of the ‘alley guards’ who guard the streets of the underworld.
Anyway, the wizards you see on the streets of this small downtown area are mostly worthless guys who aren’t even level 18.
That guy must be the same.
“Are you deaf? Stop it.”
Enoch didn’t even respond to the man’s question, but calmly walked forward and grabbed the black cloth bag on his back with his left hand.
“Hey, look at this?”
The robed man took out a short wand from his bosom and began circulating mana.
Enoch’s black eyes narrowed for a moment.
Immediately, lines of mana spread around the man and a magic circle appeared, and Enoch grabbed the knot of his cloth bag and kicked the ground.
Sreung─
A faint metallic friction sound. The blade scattered a dark light in the darkness.
In an instant, he closed the distance and recalled memories from his inner world. From the fingertips holding the sword, sensations that were not his came to life sharply.
Wheein─
A dark blue mana rose from the cold blade.
The blade cut through the air with a cool sound, instantly cutting off the lines of mana running across my eyes.
The magic circle that had been floating in the air and forming an arrangement was forcibly shattered in an instant as it lost its mana.
“Ugh!”
The man let out a single scream and fell to the floor with a loud noise, as if shocked by the sudden backflow of mana.
Enoch looked at his sword with a slightly puzzled look. The movement he had just made seemed a little awkward.
‘Was my body originally this agile?’
Is this the result of understanding mana in the inner world and absorbing some of Enoch’s experiences?
‘It seems that even my motor skills and combat sense are becoming more and more in sync with the original Enoch the more I use the sword.’
I felt that I had become noticeably more agile than when I was fighting in the inner world or when I was dealing with the Dionil followers.
“Room, what the hell just happened….”
The man, with his head down on the ground, looked up at Enoch with eyes of disbelief and muttered.
“This? Magic.”
Enoch answered vaguely and tilted his head slightly as he checked the fallen man.
‘If you use mana during casting, the caster will become incapacitated?’
I couldn’t see this case in the scenes I saw in my inner world.
Perhaps, it seemed that even an ordinary 18th level magician, rather than a high level magician, could render someone incapacitated by mana flow simply by cutting the mana line.
‘We’ll find out if we experiment a little more.’
Enoch looked down at the man lying on the floor and asked.
“Looking for someone. Where is the ‘warehouse keeper’ now?”
The man lying on the floor hesitated for a moment, looking around.
Well, it’s probably difficult to answer easily.
The warehouse keeper is one of the real powers of the underworld.
In particular, the ‘business’ he leads is what contributes the most to maintaining this underworld. He probably fears being branded a traitor if he sleeps.
Of course, it’s none of my business.
“That… that.”
When the man hesitated to answer, Enoch wordlessly thrust the tip of his sword into his neck.
The man was startled by the cold metal pressing against his neck, then opened his mouth.
“2, 2nd street alley! It’ll be there.”
After hearing the answer, Enoch silently put his sword back into the scabbard in his cloth bag.
However, Enoch swung his bag with his sword sheath towards the alley guard who was relieved upon hearing the metallic noise and struck him in the head.
Phew!
Magic of Amnesia (Physics).
The man on the verge of fainting opened his eyes whitely.
Then he muttered a few words of resentment towards Enoch, who was looking down at him with an indifferent face.
“Did you tell me…?”
“Wear some clothes.”
Enoch quickly rolled his eyes and snatched the robe from the unconscious man.
A black robe made of modern materials that combines functionality and design.
With the hood pulled over his head, his black hair and face were almost completely hidden.
It was a magnificent garment that would hide Enoch’s black hair, a rarity in the Empire.
Even in a famous assassination game, if you wear one of these, even your relatives won’t be able to recognize you.
It just so happened to be a pretty suitable item.
‘I can’t stand the hood.’
Enoch happened to look at himself in the large glass windows of a nearby building.
That’s great.
This way, unless you look at it closely, you won’t attract unnecessary attention.
Enoch walked lightly.
When I actually tried it on, I was surprised to find that the material was good, and it was comfortable and breathable. It was a robe that was perfect for wearing during a mission to hide one’s identity.
Considering the sophisticated design and the high-quality materials that don’t match, it’s probably something that was stolen or robbed from someone.
Well, it’s nothing new.
That’s what the residents of the underworld are like.
“I will write well.”
Enoch roughly threw the unconscious man into a trash can on the side of the road and walked across the alley.
‘By the way, it’s the alley on street number 2.’
A slightly different location from the original game.
I guess it’s because it’s set in the past rather than the original game. It was a good thing I asked just in case. I’ll definitely have to verify the information in the future.
It’s possible that the guy just now gave you wrong information on purpose, but it doesn’t really matter.
If you catch other alleyway keeper and use ‘magic’ like you did just now a few times, they’ll figure it out eventually.
Just like in the game.
***
The tavern on 2nd Street was deserted to a degree that was incomparable to its size.
There are only about five wizards.
Among the empty tables and chairs, it wasn’t hard to see who they were looking for.
A man sitting in the innermost seat glanced over at Enoch as he approached and spat out a grumpy remark.
“Are you from the church? Why did you crawl all the way to the rat hole again? It’s not even a regular inspection day.”
Enoch approached him without responding.
The man glanced at Enoch’s clothes for a moment, then took a thin cigarette out of his pocket and smoked it as he continued speaking.
“… I think I saw that robe somewhere in the alley ahead of here. Did you steal it?”
“I got a gift.”
He chuckled at Enoch’s short answer as if it wasn’t funny and offered the chair opposite him.
“Judging by the way you speak and act, you don’t belong to a religious group. What’s your business?”
Enoch sat down, leaning the black cloth bag he was carrying on his back against the table, and opened his mouth.
“What about the warehouse keeper?”
“He has left for a while on business. He will be back shortly.”
The man asked in a commanding tone, resting his arms askew on the chair.
“By the way. What brings you here?”
“There is a mechanical carriage that was stolen near the Elseid Fortress three months ago.”
“Heh heh, are you talking about that?”
The man waved the mana in the air with his small fingers and lit a cigarette.
He spoke while staring at Enoch, exhaling a thick puff of cigarette smoke forward.
“Look. It’s a run-down, shabby place, but this is the underworld. It’s a place where business is done.”
Enoch looked around for a moment.
The five magicians who had been quietly drinking next to me were all looking this way.
The man continued speaking.
“I won’t criticize you for coming empty-handed, whether you’re a dog or a cow. I’ll give you a piece of advice. I’ll give you a drink, so drink it properly and go. If you don’t want to shake hands with the good-natured residents of the underworld.”
Another man who heard those words from the side put down his bottle of alcohol as if mocking him and spat out a mocking remark.
“You look a little young because you’re wearing a robe. Can you drink alcohol?”
Enoch said calmly.
“You don’t seem ready to listen.”
The man snorted and replied lightly.
“Have you come here without knowing the rules of the underworld? Either you’re worth listening to in this street, or you’re worth the price. One of the two.”
Enoch looked at the men in the room for a moment. He already had a sense of their level through his mana sense.
‘All 16 grades. Number eight.’
The movement of mana that surrounds and swirls around, ready to deploy magic at any time.
Just by looking at them, you could tell that they weren’t easy opponents like the alley keeper from before.
Enoch looked at them and opened his mouth calmly.
“If a price is required, pay with your life.”
“Your life?”
To the man who asked with a slightly puzzled tone, Enoch responded as if it were obvious.
“No, yours.”
There was silence for a moment.
And then the men in front of me all threw back their heads and burst into dry laughter.
“Hahaha! I was interested because he even stole the alley janitor’s clothes, but he’s even crazier than I thought!”
Enoch looked at them indifferently, laughing brightly.
There are eight over there.
They are all guys who do a little bit of business in the underworld, and the kind of guys you would ignore if you met them in the alley outside.
Considering their numbers, they are not such insignificant opponents.
But it is not yet late at night.
So there will be no other support forces coming from outside the underworld. As long as you don’t drag out the battle too much, they’ll be the only opponents until the warehouse keeper arrives.
I guess it’s worth a try.
After making his decision, Enoch kicked the table without saying a word.
A bottle of alcohol and a table popped up right before my eyes.
Taaang!
The table tilts vertically with a loud noise, and the bottle of liquor flies out.
The lights of the room reflected on the glass bottle filled with alcohol floating into the sky. Beyond that, a man’s face, momentarily tinged with bewilderment.
Enoch pushed the tilted table forward, directly facing the face.
“Ugh!”
The man was swept away by the table that had been violently slammed into his face and was pushed backwards.
The shelf that had hit his back after being pushed for a long time overturned, sending up a loud commotion of dust and debris from the floor.
Kuung!
Enoch noticed the wizard standing up awkwardly next to him.
I immediately snatched the cloth bag from the table and swung it at the guy. The guy got hit square in the face and fell down.
“He’s crazier than I thought. What a shame.”
Chaenggang!
The bottle of wine that had risen into the sky along with the table had now fallen to the ground. The glass shards shattered along with its contents and flew in all directions.
Enoch slowly drew his sword from his satchel.
Woof─
The darkly glowing blade passed past his eyes, making a faint metallic sound.
Enoch said with a faint smile beyond the dark blue mana blooming on the blade.
“I’m fucking crazy.”
That’s not wrong.
Because I’ve been crazy about games for a long time.
So when I opened my eyes and found myself in a game world, I was ready to go crazy in every way imaginable.
The remaining wizards quickly raised their mounts and circulated their mana in a hurry.
Enoch watched the magicians’ mana flow in all directions before his eyes and muttered quietly.
“… It’s just right.”
I needed a practice partner to prepare for the real thing.
These are just the right opponents, not so risky that your life could be in danger if you fail.
The feeling that still flows from the hand holding the sword.
His memories originally contained in Enoch’s mana.
All these sensations, even if I didn’t like them, I had to adapt to them.
That is why I chose this strategy of fighting a battle like this.
‘It’s simple logic.’
In this world, if Enoch, an expendable supporting character, wants to survive without dying, he has no choice but to become stronger.
To become stronger, you must learn Enoch’s own unique mana.
According to the explanation of the inner world, in order to manifest swordsmanship, you will eventually have to learn how to use your own mana.
And to adapt to it the fastest… .
‘There’s nothing like actual practice.’