I Picked up the Demon King - Chapter 118

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 118

 

The next day arrived.

 

Thanks to falling asleep quite late while examining the magic book and creating the mana core and circle, when I opened my eyes, the sun was already high in the sky.

 

Knock knock.

 

If it weren’t for that knocking sound at the door, I might have woken up even later. Forcing myself to shake off the fatigue and opening the door, I saw the Old Witch with a cold smile.

 

“I’m sure I told you. That you need to check and follow the schedule.”

 

“You did.”

 

“You remember. Then, why don’t you tell me what time it is right now?”

 

The Old Witch’s finger pointed to an old clock hanging on one side of the room.

 

Eleven o’clock. It was late if you could call it late. It was time when I could have completed three or four chores written on the schedule. But.

 

“I made it.”

 

“…What?”

 

“I said I made it. The mana core and circle.”

 

For some reason, it felt a bit different from a mana core, but I had still created it. According to the Old Witch, I was a formal disciple and didn’t need to do such chores.

 

The Old Witch let out a sigh.

 

“Nonsense from the morning. Do I look that idle to you? I’ll forgive you for not showing up to morning cleaning today, but from next time…”

 

The Old Witch, who had been continuing her words, suddenly grabbed my shoulder with disbelieving eyes.

 

“…What.”

 

Mana thicker than I expected penetrated my body. The mana that was thoroughly scanning my entire body approached the area around my heart. The core and circle vibrated and repelled the Old Witch’s mana.

 

“You really made them? The mana core and circle?”

 

The Old Witch removed her hand from my shoulder and stepped back. From her gaping mouth, I could guess how surprised she was.

 

After pondering for a moment, she asked.

 

“Young Master. Before entering the Black Tower, did you ever learn magic somewhere?”

 

However, it didn’t seem like she was expecting an answer. Should I say she had already decided on the answer and was organizing her thoughts.

 

“If you’re a Noble, there’s nothing you can’t learn. But sensing mana and forming a Mana Core is….”

 

The voice was no longer directed at me. I didn’t mind her muttering to herself, but leaving me standing there was a bit unpleasant.

 

“I think I heard that if you create a Mana Core and Circle within a month, they’d acknowledge you. Oh my. I made one in just a day.”

 

“Tsk tsk.”

 

The Old Witch, who had been making clicking sounds with a bewildered expression, spoke.

 

“Fine. Young Master, I acknowledge you as an official Disciple of the Black Tower.”

 

“Then….”

 

“Then from now on, you’ll have to perform official Tower missions instead of menial tasks, right?”

 

“…?”

 

Official missions? I hadn’t heard anything about that.

 

The Old Witch explained in a leisurely voice.

 

“The Magic Tower is a place to research Magic and develop skills. That requires money.”

 

I knew that. Even with talent, if you don’t have money, it’s difficult to even begin learning Magic. That’s why they receive massive investments from Nobles and Merchants.

 

“We do receive investments by showing research results, but what do you think is the most suitable work for our Black Magic Tower?”

 

Perhaps guessing my thoughts, the Old Witch asked.

 

Not research results then. In that case, the answer would be….

 

“Commissions?”

 

“Dark Magic is dangerous. That’s how powerful it is. Even if they’re afraid to learn it themselves, there are countless people who need that power.”

 

The Old Witch grinned wickedly, as if my thinking was correct.

 

“Our Black Tower maintains itself by carrying out commissions from such people.”

 

“So, that….”

 

“The conspicuous Signboard is for that purpose too.”

 

I recalled the people who had been loitering around before I entered the Magic Tower. Though they wore Black Robes, I had seen quite a few who didn’t look like Mages.

 

I had thought they had gathered to enter the Black Tower, but it seems they were people who came to request missions. They must have been hiding their appearance since it would be troublesome if it was revealed that they had dealings with Dark Mages.

 

“Since you didn’t participate in the morning cleaning, you should have energy to spare. Wouldn’t you like to go check on missions right away?”

 

The Old Witch laughed cheerfully as she spoke.

 

Trying to avoid menial tasks, I ended up with something even more troublesome.

 

“Let me see…”

 

The Old Witch who dragged me up to the lobby slowly shuffled through the documents.

 

“No good, no good, this one… No good. Hmm. This one’s too easy. Where is it? Where… Good. Found it.”

 

After muttering to herself for a while as she checked the documents, the Old Witch pulled out a single sheet of paper.

 

“This one will do nicely.”

 

The paper I received read as follows.

 

Monster Extermination.

 

* * *

 

Monsters.

 

Generally refers to living creatures corrupted and transformed by demonic energy. They are known as signals that herald the Demon Lord’s invasion, and no matter how many are exterminated, they keep emerging from somewhere to attack people.

 

However, their numbers have increased exceptionally in recent times, which is even more difficult to understand considering that Hero Ruin Epeldor defeated the Demon Lord not long ago.

 

“It’s one of the reasons why the Third Hero, Johnny, is recognized by the people. It’s a clear signal that a Demon Lord has appeared.”

 

“I see.”

 

The Hero and his companions, as well as knights and soldiers from various nations, were all enthusiastically engaged in exterminating the increased monsters. But monsters kept emerging from somewhere.

 

That’s why such requests came to the Black Tower.

 

Small Noble Houses that didn’t possess their own Knight Order capable of exterminating monsters would desperately need even the help of Dark Mages.

 

“Hmm…”

 

The territory that requested the mission wasn’t very far. If we hurried, we could arrive in less than a day. Moreover, upon completing the mission, we would receive compensation along with a week’s rest, so there was no reason not to undertake it.

 

And so we reached the territory that had requested the commission.

 

Remal and Eton followed me. Remal acted as if she naturally had to come along, and Eton seemed anxious about staying alone in the Dark Mages’ den. The Old Witch screamed about it being a waste of manpower, but what could I do when they insisted on following?

 

“You are, well…”

 

“Yes. I came from the Black Tower.”

 

“Shh…!”

 

The man wearing a black robe brought his finger to his lips and hurriedly looked around.

 

“D-don’t go around saying that anywhere. Officially, we’ve never commissioned anything from your side. Understand?”

 

“Ah, right.”

 

That much was fine.

 

According to what I heard from the Old Witch, most cases were like this. As long as they quietly paid the commission fee, there was no problem.

 

“The demon appeared four days ago. At first, I thought it was a wild beast. It only appeared in the middle of the night and took away one livestock. But from the next day…”

 

“Don’t waste time on useless stories, just get to the point. Where is the demon I need to exterminate?”

 

“I don’t know.”

 

The man with his robe pulled deep over his head. As I expected, the Elder who seemed to be the Head Butler of this Barony’s Lord said so confidently.

 

“If we knew, would we have commissioned the Black Tower? You have to find it.”

 

“…Haah.”

 

So.

 

“You want me to kill a demon when you don’t know when or where it will appear, what kind it is, or how many there are?”

 

“That’s right.”

 

It wasn’t like there was no information at all. They did tell me about the demon’s habits and such.

 

The Old Witch measured the danger level based on that and judged it was fine to entrust to me. Since I had only just created one Circle, it meant it wasn’t that dangerous of a creature.

 

But that was that, and annoying was still annoying. I didn’t particularly like that confident attitude either.

 

The Old Witch’s strange attitude when I first entered the Tower too, maybe I should just abandon everything.

 

I sighed while feeling an intense desire.

 

“Fine, get lost. I’ll come find you after completing the mission.”

 

“Wh-where?”

 

“Anywhere.”

 

The man trembled for a moment then ran away.

 

“Should I kill him?”

 

“…No.”

 

Remal watched the man’s retreating figure for a moment before speaking. Eton trembled at her blunt tone.

 

Elves seemed to have quite violent tendencies, resorting to violence first when their mood soured. Eton had been beaten by Remal several times during the short period he’d been with us.

 

“Don’t waste your energy on useless things. So, do you have any guesses?”

 

“Shadow Leopard. A magical beast with a secretive and cautious nature. I thought they’d been extinct for over a hundred years, so this is fascinating.”

 

An extinct magical beast.

 

“You can tell just from hearing about it?”

 

“No. I can see traces everywhere. I know because I’ve faced one before. There’s a possibility it could be a different species, but…”

 

“You said they went extinct a hundred years ago.”

 

“…”

 

Remal didn’t answer my question and followed the traces.

 

“It’s a cautious creature, but its habitat shouldn’t be too far. If we’re lucky, we can return today.”

 

“That’s fortunate.”

 

Remal’s movements were fast and stealthy. Halfway through, Eton couldn’t keep up and fell behind.

 

Thinking there was no need to worry about him, I just left him and followed behind Remal.

 

Remal, who had been stopping intermittently to examine traces, discovered the magical beast before long, just as she had said.

 

Shadow Leopard.

 

A body the size of five or six adults combined. Yet it didn’t look sluggish at all. Its black body appeared blurry, perhaps due to the darkening shadows.

 

No, it had disappeared.

 

“True to its name, it has the ability to hide its body in shadows. Since it’s mainly active at night, it’s natural that humans haven’t discovered it.”

 

“Then how do we deal with it?”

 

I ducked my head at the ominous sensation I suddenly felt.

 

The sound of wind being torn. The Shadow Leopard’s paw grazed past above my head. Remal rushed forward to kick the Shadow Leopard, but the creature had already hidden its body in the shadows.

 

“First, we need to eliminate the space where it can hide.”

 

Remal chanted a spell in a low voice.

 

Late at night. A voice that seemed to sing with the wind spread across the dark plains.

 

Perhaps sensing danger, the Shadow Leopard rushed at Remal, even forgetting to hide its form. However.

 

“Light.”

 

Spheres of light appeared.

 

The panicked Shadow Leopard quickly tried to hide its body in the shadows. However, there wasn’t just one light.

 

So many spheres that they were difficult to count, each emitting light from different locations. The shadows disappeared in light so intense it was hard to keep one’s eyes open. Remal’s arrow flew toward the Shadow Leopard, which was panicking and didn’t know what to do.

 

The creature that tried to dodge the arrow with nimble movements gave its body to the arrows shot in succession. Before long, the breath of the creature that had been writhing in pain stopped.

 

“You knew how to use magic too?”

 

“It’s not my preference.”

 

Well.

 

Elves have superior mana aptitude compared to humans and live for nearly a thousand years. Even if they learn half-heartedly, they can achieve accomplishments that would make ordinary mages look foolish. Elves who can’t use magic would be rarer.

 

By the way, I wanted to test the power of this Mana Core-like thing and the circle. But Remal finished it off before I even had a chance to step forward.

 

“I’m here. By any chance, what was that light from earlier…? Hi, hiik! What is that thing?”

 

Eton, who had followed us belatedly, cried out in surprise.

 

Honestly, I thought he would either run away or rest at the inn, but he managed to follow us.

 

“Mission complete. Let’s go back.”

 

The short mission was over.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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