Chapter 114

The quiet countryside territory of Ardell was undergoing some rapid changes.

The trade route project going through South Mountain was already half-way done, and the first deal with Eight-Lake had been made.

The main exports of Ardell were being sold at far higher than the market price thanks to the efforts of House Baltraze, the No.1 at Eight Lake.

The profits made from this were nearly 80% higher than normal.

On top of that, the number of visitors coming to Ardell had increased exponentially.

The people of the nearby trade city Monzo came with their heads bowed, and many nobles from the capital also came down with carriages filled with gifts.

As many people started coming to Ardell, the inns, restaurants, and shops that were just wasting away started to come back to life.

"I never expected to see such an active Ardell in my life."

"This is all thanks to the young master. He's still so young, yet he has the greatness to do all these incredible things?"

"That's right! Also, the lord of the territory, who trusted the young master and let him do his work, is also outstanding. Haha!"

As the financial situation started to settle and even finally began to climb, the faces of the citizens of the territory started to brighten.

However, the actual lord of the Ardell territory, Dellin Ardell, was more cautious of all these rapid transformations and took longer to accept them.

"Have you heard, milord? The young master won against the eldest son of the Galehill family."

"I have."

"Just like with the princes, the nobles of the capital are hoping to make connections with Ardell. It's a good opportunity to increase Ardell's prestige."

As Chief of Affairs Baggins spoke, Dellin Ardell agreed silently, but he also shook his head, feeling like something wasn't right.

"...Isn't it too peaceful?"

"Is there something you are worried about?"

"Galehill. The Josh Galehill I know isn't someone who would give up this much power when he was holding it so firmly in his grasp."

"...That is true."

Hearing Dellin's words, Chief Baggins nodded.

"He is a dangerous person. He's someone who wouldn't hesitate to kill to maintain his authority. Many Houses have been destroyed because they were an eyesore to Galehill. Yet it remains quiet."

"Were there any suspicious people among the guests that visited Ardell?"

"I'll check again. And I will also inform Sir Bolvar."

"Thank you."

Baggins immediately went to Bolvar Patten to share the information.

After receiving the will of the lord of the territory, he immediately increased the inspections into and out of the territory and rechecked everyone that wished to come to Ardell.

While doing that, he found some suspicious individuals.

'Wandering merchants...'

There were five merchants that were confirmed to have come into the territory, but there had been no sighting of them by any of the citizens.

After coming into the territory, they had completely disappeared.

On top of that, as merchantry was a dangerous lifestyle, it was common for merchants to carry blades to protect their goods from bandits.

Meaning, disguising themselves as merchants was the easiest way for an assassin to enter into the territory without being suspected.

'...Assassins.'

The Tiger of Ardell, a knight approaching the realms of 8th-rank, Bolvar Patten.

His eyes turned ferocious.

It was not the face of a man rounded with age and rest, but the face which he wore in his prime.

The angry Bolvar Patten immediately ran to the mansion where the lord of the territory and the lord's daughter resided.

The sun had already disappeared over the horizon, and there was only a single ray of moonlight to illuminate this dark night in the capital.

After coming out of the inn and stepping foot onto a road so dark that even the lampposts refused to shine upon it, I laughed sarcastically.

"You're incredible. Going this far just to catch me?"

There were no cases where lampposts enchanted with permanent light magic would turn just off.

Yet every single lamppost on this road was out of order.

That could only mean that even the capital guards were all connected to Galehill.

Therefore, no matter what happened here, there was no one to come and help.

"Ruin Ardell."

As I willingly entered the illusion field, the old magician from before clicked his tongue at me.

"As your senior in life five times over and also your senior in magic, I'll give you this advice. Sometimes, blending into the background and staying quiet is what is needed to ensure longevity. Ah, of course, you won't have the time to reflect on my advice."

"What senior?"

"But it looks like another person came with you. Is she your fellow traveller to the afterlife?"

The 'fellow traveller' he was talking about was Straang, who had stepped into the illusion field after me.

I shrugged.

"Don't worry about that. I have no intention of dying here."

I wouldn't roll over obediently and die.

But unfortunately, the situation wasn't that much better than what I had expected.

"No intention of dying... Although it might be good if everything in the world went as you wished... after living for a long time, you learn that things don't always go your way. Even when climbing without limit, like you own the world, a single slip of the tongue, a sentence poorly said, can make you fall all the way down to the bottom. That is life."

Right as the old man finished speaking, I could start to sense something behind him.

There were seven or so shadows slowly approaching.

Seeing as I could feel immense mana from each of them, they seemed to all be magicians.

And they weren't just any old magicians either.

Three or four of them were 6th-class.

With their appearance, the old magician continued his sophistry.

"People call me the great prophet who can see into the future. My foolish junior, do you know why?"

"It is because I can see people's futures. Then, I shall see what will happen to you in 10 seconds."

The old man who called himself a prophet screwed his eyes shut before opening them wide and laughing maniacally, revealing his yellow teeth.

"I see it! I see it! I can see your death!"

Bang—!

A light spell was shot into the air, and the once dark road immediately brightened.

The eight total magicians that had been hiding in the darkness had all been casting their own spells aimed at me.

Fire, water, air, lightning, earth, light.

Different types of spells were being readied without concern for synergy.

This had enough destructive power to easily blow away a city, and they were all unhesitatingly aimed at me.

This much force was hard to dodge, and a mana barrier wouldn't stand a chance.

If I was to get hit by that, there would be no corpse to bury.

But I didn't go anywhere, standing straight in the path of it all.

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"Leave it to me."

Rather than having me move, Straang stepped in front.

Bang! Babababang!

Straang jumped up and spun twice in the air, crashing her head straight into the spells with form and destroying each and every one of them.

As for the ones without form, she merely absorbed them until nothing remained.

Seeing this, the old magician was too surprised and started to crudely swear.

"Th-th-that wicked bitch! How did she not die?!"

"Because she can't die."

"Can't die?! What nonsense are you spouting! There are no immortals in this world! Even the great magician at the boundary will die with old age!"

"Nah, there are existences like that."

Yeah.

She was the incarnation of strength.

An unkillable, indestructible incarnation.

There was only one way to put her out of commission.

By killing me, the contractor.

Then Straang would be sealed as a spirit stone again and fall into a deep slumber until another player appeared.

But this was close to impossible to accomplish.

Why?

Because I didn't have any intentions of dying here.

I smirked and said to the old magician,

"Hey, gramps."

"Are you really a great prophet? It's already been 10 seconds."

"Y-you… Die! Kill him!"

The magicians started to cast again, but I wasn't going to give them the time.

I used the skill 'Chieftain's Will' to call forth Kunkhan before charging through them.

Ting—!

Using Bend Time, I instantly rushed behind a magician and struck him with a fist.

Crack—!

"...Kugh!"

Red blood burst out of the magician's mouth.

It was a fatal blow.

I immediately went to charge toward another magician, but found that I couldn't.

"Keke…Got you!"

The magician that I hit was holding onto my leg, even as blood streamed out from his mouth.

I tried to shake him off, but I couldn't free myself from his grasp.

The magician was latched onto me like he wanted us to die together, and I could see a purplish smoke coming out of his palm.

I knew what this spell was.

"...Seal of Myul."

It was a type of black magic, something seen as taboo by magicians.

Black magic was strong, but if one became addicted to it, the magic would dominate their mind. The ones who used this black magic were known as 'warlocks'.

Seal of Myul was a spell created by the first warlock, Myul.

It was a powerful black magic spell where the caster wouldn't let go of anything it had grabbed and would constantly drain the lifeforce of the target.

As I muttered the spell's name, the old magician spoke as if he was quite surprised.

"Oh, you know this spell? You're pretty smart. Must've studied a lot."

He then abruptly moved in front of me and started to cast the same spell again.

Seal of Myul.

Including the old man, the eight other magicians held the purple light in their palms, and as if they were branding me, they grabbed my neck, arms, and legs.

Fwoooosh!

"...Since you've seen this spell, you must now die. Well, you were bound to die anyway."

"Kugh."

Clench!

As their palms touched my skin, I felt as though my skin was burning.

I tried to struggle, but the energy of the Seal of Myul penetrated deep into my body, so I couldn't even move.

Straang tried to pull the magicians off of me, but as only a Rank 5, it was impossible for her to suppress all of them.

Black magic.

Damn it...

I had it as a possibility, but I didn't expect them to do this much.

They would know the consequences of using black magic very well.

Their minds would get torn to shreds, become exhausted, and shrivel up.

They would forget everything and die as cripples, their life energies completely consumed by evil.

But they laughed while they grabbed me as if it was just another problem for the future.

"We got you. We got the next-generational magician."

"Let's kill him. How should we kill him?"

"Let's put a bug in his head. Let it gnaw at him. Crunch, crunch. Kekek."

I held onto my fading consciousness and glared at the old magician.

The old man laughed with an unpleasant laugh, finding amusement in this situation.

"I am your senior in life, but you are my senior in the afterlife. Yeah. How does it feel to die?"

"Don't feel too down. The path you shall travel won't be lonely."

"...What do you mean by that?"

"About now, your father and sister should both be dead as well. Didn't you know?"

What?

My father and Ruina?

"Ahah, of course you didn't know. Because if you did, you wouldn't be here. So why did you oppose the guardian so much? Did you think you could win just because you got a bit famous?"

I felt my blood boil with rage.

For the first time in my life, I felt the desire to kill.

To guarantee the deaths of the bastards before my eyes.

As if possessed, I reached out with my hand.

"...Kugh!"

The Seal of Myul eating away at the life force in my right arm was destroyed.

My hand clasped onto the head of the old magician in front of me.

And then, without hesitation…

"Die."