I Picked up the Demon King - Chapter 68

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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 68

 

Mages are rare.

 

The number of those born with magical talent is not that many to begin with, and having talent doesn’t guarantee they’ll walk the path of magic.

 

Moreover, how much wealth is needed for magical research and training? The majority of those who struggle to enter the world of magic end up frustrated when they can’t find proper sponsors.

 

That was precisely why Mages who had reached a certain level were always thirsting for talent.

 

But Magic Towers are different.

 

The Magic Tower established by the First Hero’s companion and Archmage was a Holy Land of magic where only the most carefully selected talented individuals from across the Continent could barely set foot.

 

Though he didn’t show it, this was why Jude’s Master Sevian had carried lifelong pride in the fact that he had once belonged to the Green Magic Tower.

 

Because of this, even though he had come here, he didn’t think he would be able to enter the Magic Tower easily.

 

“This is the Restaurant. You could order pretty much any food and get it. …Though it’s closed now due to budget shortfalls.”

“Magic Training Room. It has mana concentration Magic Circles carved in, so it’s good for achieving progress. Of course, it doesn’t work now.”

“Lodging is on the 3rd floor. Pretty nice, right? Hot water runs well, and housekeeping golems clean up too. Where are the golems, you ask? The Tower Master sold them a while ago.”

 

Before even being asked about proper personal information, Jude’s mind began filling with the question ‘Is this really okay?’ as he received a tour of the internal facilities.

 

No matter how much he had expressed his intention to join the Tower, Jude was currently an outsider.

 

Though it seemed like there wasn’t a single proper place left, shouldn’t the internal facilities of an important institution like a Magic Tower be treated as confidential, no matter how trivial?

 

“Ah, here! This is the Elder’s Research Lab. Research on ‘Pest Control Through Barriers’ was being conducted. The name sounds silly, but it was research that even the Imperial Palace was paying quite a bit of attention to, you know?”

 

They were even showing him the Elder’s Research Lab of all places.

 

Feeling an inexplicable sense of crisis, Jude asked.

 

“…Is it really okay to just walk into a place like this?”

“It’s fine. That old man took his materials and flew the coop a while ago. To the Blue Tower, I think it was.”

“What the hell, seriously.”

 

The Magic Tower that his Master had loved had changed as much on the inside as its exterior appearance.

 

The facility tour continued after that.

 

“Wow, but this is unexpected.”

“What is?”

 

At the Shop, one of the few facilities in the crumbling Green Magic Tower that still functioned, the Self-Proclaimed Senior who had bought Jude some unidentifiable black liquid said.

 

“When the Tower Master suddenly started talking about reform and whatnot, I really thought ‘The Green Magic Tower has really hit rock bottom!'”

“…Reform?”

“Selling off everything valuable and planting some trees with the money – who would come looking for us? Everyone thought that way. But to think a new recruit would show up in just one day!”

 

That meant if Jude had arrived just one day earlier, he could have seen the Magic Tower as it was when his Master experienced it.

 

Once again, he felt resentful toward Albeng, who was probably somewhere in the Empire right now diligently treating people.

 

“Jude, was it? How long have you been learning magic?”

 

Only now?

 

Jude sighed and thought.

 

His initial plan had been to demonstrate the most powerful magic he could use and confidently join the Tower, but that approach had several risk factors.

 

One of them was mana.

 

Mana.

 

The power created by Dark Mages to mimic demonic energy in order to gain strong power. It was an unstable force that even skilled Dark Mages sometimes failed to control, with all sorts of side effects, but it was correspondingly powerful energy.

 

That was why.

 

Mana had all sorts of side effects, and one of them was that it was more easily detected compared to other energies.

 

Right now he was concealing his mana with Deception, but could he use high-level magic like Explosion while hiding all the aftereffects?

 

He didn’t think it was completely impossible, but he didn’t want to complicate a situation that was going well.

 

“About 3 years…?”

“Then how many Spells can you use? At least two… no, one at least?”

“…Excuse me?”

“You can’t use even one…? Uh, um. It’s okay. You can at least use Mana Bullet, right? Let’s do the test with that for now. As long as you succeed, we won’t fail you just for doing it poorly, so don’t worry.”

 

Perhaps sensing that Jude’s expression was souring in real time, the Self-Proclaimed Senior’s words became faster, and he seemed rather flustered instead.

 

‘The expectations are so low…!’

 

Led by the Self-Proclaimed Senior, Jude went outside the Magic Tower building.

 

The Mage who had been looking at the snow-covered field for a moment pointed at the Sky.

 

“Try shooting up there!”

“Isn’t there a separate facility for testing?”

“Of course, there was one. Until recently.”

“…I understand.”

 

Disguising a Mana Bullet as a Mana Bullet wasn’t difficult.

 

Jude set aside the black liquid he hadn’t drunk yet and lightly fired a Mana Bullet.

 

The process of simultaneously disguising both internal mana and released mana as mana, while also hiding the form of the magic circle, made the power and speed of the mana bullet less than satisfactory.

 

As Jude watched the mana bullet disappear far into the sky with a grimace and looked to the side, the self-proclaimed senior who had been staring into empty space muttered.

 

“What the hell is that? Just how far is it going to fly?”

 

In that moment, Jude recalled a fact he had forgotten.

 

The power and range of a mana bullet, which simply condenses and fires mana, is proportional to the caster’s mana manipulation ability. Even without knowing the level of other mages well, it was certain that a mana bullet still flying without stopping had exceeded normal standards.

 

Jude quickly dispersed the mana bullet’s mana.

 

* * *

 

Jude sat in his temporarily provided room, lost in thought.

 

“No matter how I think about it, I seem to have made the wrong choice.”

 

Choosing the Green Magic Tower among the three towers was due to an inner sense of familiarity through his Master’s memories. But to think it would be so ruined that even hot water wouldn’t come out.

 

He didn’t know what had happened in the meantime, but it seemed unlikely there would be even fragments of holy sword materials, let alone the materials themselves.

 

-You never know. Maybe no one has noticed its value, and it’s stuck in some corner of a warehouse.

“That’s too optimistic thinking.”

 

If human affairs went as smoothly as words suggested, what difficult things would exist in this world?

 

“Still, since it’s a Magic Tower, it seems they regularly participate in seminars and conferences…”

-But will that be okay?

“What do you mean?”

-Haven’t you been using fake names all this time?

 

As the Demon Lord said, when filling out the tower admission application after finishing the lengthy tour, Jude had written his real name as is.

 

He couldn’t create another victim like Johnny, and no suitable name came to mind.

 

“Anyway, there’s no one in the Empire who would know my name. I don’t plan to stay here too long either. If I can just hide my mana somehow, they won’t think I’m the same person.”

-Hmm… Well, it’s your choice.

 

The Demon Lord’s muttering was quite ominous, but since this wasn’t the first or second time it had done this, Jude simply ignored it lightly.

 

Jude’s thoughts soon flowed to what would happen shortly.

 

The interview with the Tower Master.

 

This was what awaited him after completing the facility tour, entrance test, and simple paperwork.

 

Of course, the interview wasn’t anything too grand. Each group of new members being called for a group interview with the Tower Master seemed to be a kind of tradition.

 

The entire process consisted of getting to know each other’s faces, stating their aspirations for joining the tower, and then making a magical oath. His Master Sevian had also gone through this, and the oath wasn’t as grand as a soul contract, so breaking it wouldn’t result in major penalties.

 

It was a simple matter. A simple matter, but…

 

“I won’t be discovered, right?”

 

If there was someone who noticed his true identity, it was clear how his current appearance would look.

 

A Dark Mage who had infiltrated a Magic Tower in a precarious situation.

 

Regardless of his intentions, it wasn’t much different from that in reality. From a normal mage’s perspective, wasn’t he a villain who should be killed immediately?

 

If his identity were discovered during the interview, a battle with the Tower Master would break out right there. And he would die.

 

He shouldn’t get cocky just because he had defeated the Elf King. That was merely a victory due to compatibility. If the Elf King hadn’t let his guard down, wouldn’t it have ended with him being absorbed by the Divine Tree in just a few seconds?

 

If a battle with the Green Tower Master occurred, he couldn’t expect the same luck as that time.

 

-Don’t worry. As long as you don’t make mistakes, there’s no human who can see through deception.

 

The Demon Lord showed considerable pride in the magic it had taught him. Occasionally, it seemed to show even more attachment to deception magic than soul magic.

 

“If I get hit by Dispel…?”

-…Then that would be unfortunate.

 

The Demon Lord, pretending to be upset, let out a sigh and soon chuckled with amusement.

 

The reason he could ignore the Elf King’s Dispel was because the catalyst on which the deception magic circle was drawn was a branch of the World Tree. The supreme fuel called divinity allowed him to ignore the difference in hierarchy that couldn’t be approached.

 

‘Right now…’

 

Looking down out the window, he could see a small sprout swaying on the white field.

 

Doing the same thing as back then with that would be impossible no matter how he thought about it.

 

-There’s nothing to worry about. Unless you do something particularly suspicious, there aren’t many who would cast Dispel on first meeting.

“That’s right, isn’t it?”

 

Even if the Green Tower Master was one of those few humans, there was no reason to cast Dispel in front of Jude.

 

As he had experienced all day today, it wasn’t Jude who was desperate, but the Magic Tower.

 

Even though Jude didn’t know much about mage culture, casting Dispel on first meeting was certainly an incredibly rude act.

 

What benefit would the Tower Master gain if Jude reconsidered his tower admission after such behavior?

 

Jude, whose thoughts had finally reached that point, nodded his head.

 

“Hey, newbie! Let’s get going soon.”

 

At the words that came with the sound of knocking on the door, Jude opened it.

 

“You weren’t sleeping, were you? Ah, just kidding. Let’s hurry up and go.”

 

The Tower Master’s office was located on the top floor of the Magic Tower. Considering the height of the tower that exceeded 30 floors, it was a dizzying position just to think about.

 

There was supposed to be a structure that allowed rapid movement between floors, but due to cost issues, it wasn’t currently operational, so they had no choice but to walk directly.

 

“Does the Tower Master walk up to this height every time?”

“The Tower Master? Oh, no. There’s levitation magic.”

“Levitation magic…”

 

Wasn’t that something old mages with overflowing mana used unnecessarily to create atmosphere?

 

Having thought that far, Jude recalled that the person they were going to meet was one of those who best fit the description of ‘an old mage with overflowing mana.’ Of course, in this case it would be mana rather than magic power.

 

“You, huff, have good, stamina…”

“Yes, well. I’ve been living as a wanderer for a long time.”

 

Long after the self-proclaimed senior mage began gasping for breath with a half-dead face, they finally arrived at the top floor of the Magic Tower.

 

The senior mage, who had collapsed on the floor and spent a long time catching his breath, knocked on the office door with an exhausted face.

 

“Tower Master, this is Shuditi. It’s an interview with a tower admission applicant.”

-Come in.

 

With a creaking sound, the office door opened.

 

A fragrant smell somewhat different from what he had expected, warm air, and strangely bright light flowed out.

 

“Did you have a guest? Then next time…”

“It’s fine.”

“Understood. Ah, it’s been a while since I’ve seen you. Have you been well?”

“Yes, well…”

 

For a moment, Jude felt an inexplicably intense sense of unease. He heard a voice that seemed familiar from somewhere.

 

‘The Tower Master’s voice? No, that’s not it.’

 

Thanks to glimpsing his Master’s memories, he already knew the Tower Master’s voice. But there was a different voice that existed in both his Master’s memories and Jude’s own memories.

 

It was the voice coming from the Magic Tower Master’s guest.

 

Since their back was turned, he couldn’t see their face, but each time he looked at them, his unease only grew.

 

“What did I tell you? Look. Didn’t a new mage come in right away like this?”

“Well, I suppose so.”

“Let me see… That fellow is quite handsome. What did you say his name was?”

“It’s Jude. Hey newcomer, what are you doing not coming in? Hurry up and come greet them.”

“Jude…?”

 

The ‘guest’ who heard the senior mage’s words turned around.

 

And both of them stopped moving simultaneously.

 

“…Why are you here?”

 

Jude thought. That was exactly what he wanted to say.

 

The mage who had once helped him in Andril. And a member of the Dawn Order.

 

Witch Melissa was right before his eyes.

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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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