Blacksmithing Is Child’s Play for a Dark Mage - Chapter 17

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 17
Tay spent the day in a state of barely suppressed laughter.
A few days later, he was released.
Other survivors had begun trickling out one by one.
Fortunately.
His confiscated goods and possessions were returned to him.
What Tay did next was dispose of his spoils.
The Black Mage’s effects had accrued into a respectable haul.
“All debt payments have been processed. Congratulations on your freedom. Additionally, this commission has been marked complete, and your rank has been elevated to Bronze Badge status. Congratulations.”
“Thanks for the well-wishes. You’ve been helpful.”
Tay emerged from the Black Spear Guild with a satisfied expression.
“Ah. This is the air of freedom…….”
“You do have a gift for melodrama.”
“Wouldn’t you say this sort of outlandish behavior is precisely what keeps our master’s mind so robust!”
Tay laughed warmly at the words of his servant Imp and his other minion.
He’d cleared his debt in no time at all, and he couldn’t have been in higher spirits!
Things in the sewers below had gone well enough, and when he’d climbed back out, he’d faced a formidable Black Mage and demon—a encounter that had left him on the razor’s edge.
But thanks to that, he’d paid off every last coin and reclaimed his freedom. What could be better?
Clearing his debt didn’t mean he’d be parting ways with the Black Spear Guild.
He planned to keep taking commissions through them.
No other guild offered better rates anyway.
It was all thanks to the Hunter abilities from his past life that had suddenly manifested.
Pure luck, really.
Tay left the Black Spear Guild’s counter with a grin plastered across his face.
“So then. What do you intend to do now?”
At Ash’s question, Tay smirked.
“Buy a house.”
“A house, you say. Though it appeared you didn’t have quite enough remaining for such a purchase.”
“It’s fine. It’s fine. I’ve got enough for a house at this price point.”
The spoils from killing the Black Mage had amounted to a decent sum, but hardly enough to change his circumstances.
After paying off his debt, he had 125 Goldmanta Coins left to his name.
By Tay’s reckoning, a single Goldmanta Coin was worth roughly one million Won in his previous life’s currency.
Which meant he was holding something close to 125 million Won.
Though of course, that was just his sense of it—a Goldmanta Coin didn’t literally equal one million Won.
This world was roughly comparable to Earth’s fourteenth to sixteenth centuries, so prices weren’t exactly stable.
Still, this amount would sustain him comfortably for a year without lifting a finger, though it wasn’t quite enough for a proper house.
Yet Tay’s confidence had grounds.
“I understand property in this city commands quite high prices…….”
“There are plenty of decent houses available for around 100 Goldmanta Coins.”
“Master. I’m afraid when I think about it rationally, those can’t possibly be normal houses! Could they perhaps be cursed? Cursed houses! How fitting for our household!”
Dialogue chirped cheerfully.
The creature had a manic disposition, so this sort of outburst was second nature.
“Correct.”
“Wonderful! My guess was right on the mark!”
At Dialogue’s exuberance, Ash’s expression turned incredulous.
“Contractor. Your peculiar abilities are certainly formidable. But must you really purchase a cursed house?”
“Of course. It’s cheap!”
“Truly……. You are a pitiless creature.”
“I’ll take that as a compliment.”
Tay laughed and headed toward the government office that handled property transactions.
* * *
“Seventy-five Goldmanta Coins.”
In this world’s cities, all real estate was managed by government officials.
There were no independent real estate dealers, as there would be in twenty-first-century Earth.
Since the Lord—who served as the government—oversaw all management and sales, transaction fees were essentially taxes.
Private sales were handled by the Land and Building Management Bureau, as were all public property transactions.
And the property Tay intended to buy was classified as public.
Specifically, it was a building seized when the original owner couldn’t pay taxes—and among such properties existed genuine “Cursed Houses.”
No joke. No exaggeration. No metaphor.
Genuinely cursed houses.
In this fantasy world where magic truly exists and divine beings roam freely, a Cursed House is an inevitable kind of structure.
The reasons varied.
A soul trapped by the spirit of someone who died unjustly and became an Evil Spirit might cling to the place; or a Black Mage might have performed human sacrifice there; or it could be a location where a pleasure-killer had murdered victims for cannibalism.
When a Cursed House like that was in a desirable location or was a valuable building, the Lord would call in a Priest to perform purification and reclaim it for use.
The problem arose precisely here: money.
Since summoning a Priest was quite expensive, any Cursed House worth less than a Priest’s fee would simply be abandoned.
Indeed.
As a result, Cursed Houses became commonplace throughout the city.
Even in a city, slums existed, and there was always relatively cheap real estate to be found.
Because of this, some of the buildings in the Slums would persist as Cursed Houses for a very long time.
And naturally enough.
Tay, as a Black Mage, possessed resistance to such curses.
Black Magic drew upon the power of Hell itself, after all.
“Here you are.”
Tay paid seventy-five Goldmanta Coins. His remaining funds now totaled fifty Goldmanta Coins.
“You appear to be a Black Mage—I trust you won’t attempt human sacrifice.”
“Heavens, no. Of course not. Surely that would cause no end of trouble, wouldn’t it?”
“Hmph. Off with you.”
The bureaucrat from the Land and Building Management Bureau—in this world, bureaucrats were practically minor nobility—gave a derisive snort and ushered Tay out.
Tay simply grinned to himself as he stepped outside.
“Now I’m a property owner too! Excellent!”
“Contractor. There must be a reason you purchased a dwelling—particularly one in the Slums. It’s a dangerous area, is it not?”
The public safety of this world could hardly be called good by any measure. In the Slums, one slip could mean robbery or murder.
“As I mentioned before, the price was cheap—”
“There appears to be another reason behind this purchase.”
“Perceptive, aren’t you?”
Tay grinned widely.
“My bloodline ability is rather unusual, you see.”
Mad Mechanic.
This grotesque Hunter ability converted the irrational and chaotic mental strength of others into raw power.
The word “mad” in its name was hardly there by accident.
And he could absorb and utilize his own madness as well.
It was no coincidence that he synergized so well with Black Magic.
It was nearly infinite in its potential.
“In any case, let us proceed.”
Tay headed toward the house he had purchased.
* * *
The great city of Harundel was renowned for commerce—the reason being that it bordered both river and sea, and the ancient Sewers from ages past still functioned properly.
Being such a city, Harundel had a large population, and among them were many who dwelt in poverty.
As the history grew long, Slums naturally formed—though these too were, ultimately, registered with the Land and Building Management Bureau under the Lord’s authority.
After all, squeezing taxes from the people was the very virtue of lordship in this age.
Tay had purchased one of the cheapest houses among them, one situated outside the City Walls.
The city inside the City Walls and the city outside them differed from the start in their level of security.
For instance, suppose war broke out.
The interior would receive some protection, but those living outside the walls and their property would receive none.
An army would storm in and wage battle beyond the walls—it was inevitable.
Therefore, the Slums had no choice but to be established entirely beyond the City Walls.
Even outside the walls, certain areas held better real estate value—those near the gates.
This was because merchants conducted business with those passing through the gates.
In any case, Tay passed through the South Gate—Harundel had the sea to its east, so approximately six gates lay to the south, north, and west—and made his way toward a Slum located on the southern coast.
In truth, among all the Slums, those bordering the coast were the least desirable.
Why, you ask?
Because Sea Monsters occasionally emerged from the waters.
“I had imagined a crumbling ruin, but this is a respectable stone building, sir! Splendid!”
Dialogue called out with his usual cheerfulness.
True to his words, the building was made of stone with a surrounding wall, and it covered approximately a hundred pyeong in area.
Such a house for seventy-five Goldmanta Coins—roughly seventy-five million won in Korean currency.
For a property adjoining a great city, the price was remarkably reasonable.
And yet.
“What is this?”
As they stepped through the open gate, Tay found a group of thugs had made camp inside.
“What exactly are you doing here?”
Tay kept his tone measured and polite.
Then it happened.
One of the thugs spoke up.
“A Black Mage?”
“That’s correct, but—?”
The skull-topped staff looked sinister enough on its own.
Add the Dialogue perched on his shoulder.
Nothing about his appearance screamed normalcy.
The thugs’ expressions shifted instantly from casual arrogance to wary alertness.
“This is our Olson Faction’s hideout. What’s your business?”
“Hmm…….”
Tay pieced together what had happened readily enough.
They were squatters—occupying a Cursed House without permission.
Or perhaps.
The Cursed House had been cursed long ago, but these fools had engineered the conditions themselves to maintain that reputation.
Either way, it hardly mattered.
They had to go.
“I purchased this house from the Land and Building Management Bureau. You need to leave.”
“You bought this place?”
Tay nodded.
“Wait, you actually bought it?”
“But this is the house where ghosts appear…….”
“That’s why we only use it during the day anyway.”
“Maybe that’s why—he’s a Black Mage, after all?”
The thugs muttered among themselves.
‘These bastards knew and used it anyway? And only during the day—what’s that about?’
“Come now. All of you, get out. I don’t care how you’ve been using the place, and I don’t need to know. I bought this house legitimately with hard coin, so you can leave peacefully while you still have the chance.”
“What if we can’t do that?”
The thug who’d first spoken to Tay grinned wickedly.
Tay rubbed his jaw.
Then he spoke.
“Then you’ll die.”
Snap!
The moment Tay’s fingers clicked, Ash burst forth from the shadows.
Whoosh!
Though an Imp, Ash—an Imp Butler, one of the higher castes among Imps—radiated a presence that shook the entire room in an instant.
A demonic aura so potent that merely witnessing it drove madness into the beholder!
-You have been exposed to Mental Erosion (lowest grade) wave.
-Madness Accumulation Lv Max activates.
-Madness has accumulated.
Of course, Tay took no damage—his Mad Mechanic trait shielded him completely.
But the thugs were not so fortunate.
“Ahhh, a demon! A demon!”
“Kyaaaaaaaaahhhhh!!!”
Half the gathered thugs succumbed to the mental erosion, and chaos erupted in an instant.
Some trembled uncontrollably in terror. Others, driven mad, lashed out wildly at everything around them. Still others turned their violence inward.
In the midst of that pandemonium, Tay immediately channeled his next Black Magic through the staff.
“Come forth, you hounds that roam the depths of Hell! Be summoned to this place and heed my command! Hell Hound Summoning!”
Crack!
Among the demon breeds of Hell itself, these ranked among the very lowest.
The Hell Hounds erupted forth in a cloud of sulfurous reek.
The Dialogue flared with light as additional magic triggered.
Two Hell Hounds burst into the fray simultaneously.
“Graaaaahhhhh!”
“Yelp! Yelp!”
Hell Hounds bore the name only—they were far more monster than canine in truth.
Their bodies were hairless, their jaws split into four segments, their teeth packed so densely they were nauseating to behold.
Their frame was roughly that of a large dog, perhaps slightly smaller than a grown man, and depending on the specimen, they breathed poison or flame and other such horrors.
Two such monsters burst forth and charged straight at him.
“Damn it all!”
The Black Magic Blacksmith Is Too Easy
Author |
Automaton G
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(株) Samyang C&C
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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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