I Picked up the Demon King - Chapter 74

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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 74

 

“Was there a place like this in the Empire?”

 

An Elder who had entered a tavern said.

 

“Many people desire a place where secret meetings and conversations can take place. This was created for that purpose. Isn’t it quite nice?”

 

A Young Man who had been waiting inside the spacious tavern answered with a bright smile, but the Elder snorted with a sullen expression.

 

“Cut the nonsense. So, how was it? I’ve resolved everything you requested. Are you satisfied?”

“That’s too harsh. Still, it cost quite a lot of money.”

 

The Young Man who had been joking for a moment corrected his expression when he saw the Elder’s face growing menacing.

 

“Of course I’m satisfied. How could I not be? This is work personally handled by none other than the master of the Green Tower. You don’t need to worry about being cheated out of the commission fee. It’s already been provided to the Magic Tower in advance payment.”

“….”

 

The Elder, Green Tower Master Algril Orel, walked over and sat across from the Young Man without smoothing his wrinkled expression.

 

Without touching the glass placed in front of him, Orel stared at the Young Man’s face for a while before asking.

 

“What’s your real intention?”

“Real intention? I think I mentioned this before. I simply wanted to establish a good relationship with one of the Empire’s leading Archmages. Both personally and from the Dawn Company’s perspective.”

“Don’t make me laugh.”

 

Though his tone was calm, the mana surging intensely around them showed that his mood was far from good.

 

“The tasks you assigned me were all trivial, though bothersome. They were things that any decent person could easily accomplish, not just me.”

 

The Tower Master recalled the requests that had come to him after accepting the Dawn Company’s proposal.

 

Inspecting magic circles at certain facilities, or exterminating monsters that had occupied specific areas. Each one was troublesome, but they weren’t tasks worth paying an Archmage expensive fees to handle.

 

Therefore, these were all just excuses. He had no choice but to conclude that the real main topic hadn’t been brought up yet.

 

In a way, it was surprising.

 

What the man had offered as payment for the requests was an enormous sum of money, enough to restore vitality to a declining Magic Tower. Even though the man was the owner of a major trading company that had recently begun making a name for itself on the continent, it wasn’t money he could throw away carelessly.

 

The man tapped his fingers on the table as if pondering for a moment before answering.

 

“…The Green Magic Tower’s research data. I want one of them.”

“You have no talent for investment. Research data has already been reported to the Academic Conference. Our Magic Tower doesn’t hesitate to share knowledge for the advancement of magic….”

“The Artificial Hero Project.”

“You bastard.”

 

As soon as the Tower Master’s words ended, a small light appeared at his fingertips. Magic manifestation that occurred in the blink of an eye.

 

Until just moments ago, he had merely been in a bad mood, but now he could kill his opponent if necessary.

 

“How did you find out? You don’t seem to have any connection to magic.”

“Is that so? I may not look it, but I’m an Academy graduate. I took a few magic courses as electives. Though my grades weren’t good.”

“That’s not even funny.”

 

However, the man remained unfazed by the threatening mana blades from all directions.

 

“I didn’t hear it from your daughter. It’s simply a matter of deduction. The period when the Green Magic Tower declined… it coincided with when the Second Hero began his activities.”

 

The Tower Master didn’t react. He certainly thought so. But the Young Man seemed to have obtained the information he wanted even from his non-reaction.

 

“The rumors about massive investments from all over the continent for the artificial reproduction of a Hero aren’t false, are they? After the Second Hero was born, I thought they simply withdrew the resources that had been invested in the Green Magic Tower for that purpose. Was I wrong?”

“…Ha. You’re a dangerous one.”

 

He held his forehead and let out a hollow laugh. However, contrary to his words, all the magic that had been threatening the Young Man had already disappeared.

 

“If you anticipated that much, you should know. Our Green Magic Tower failed to reproduce a Hero.”

“That doesn’t matter. We’ll fill in the lacking parts. You just need to cooperate in making the Hero we’ve put forward into a real Hero.”

 

The Tower Master who had sighed raised his head and fixed his gaze on one spot. Though blocked by the ceiling, the scenery beyond came into the Tower Master’s eyes as clearly as if he could grasp it.

 

“Is that your newly selected Hero?”

“That’s right.”

 

The sight of a man trembling with fear in a corner of the room. He couldn’t enjoy the luxurious room’s facilities at all, making one worry whether he might run away soon.

 

“His Mana Affinity is rock bottom, and his physical abilities don’t exceed those of an ordinary person with a bit of training. Forget the Demon Lord, he’d have to risk his life to face even the lowest-grade monster. I can’t believe he’s the person behind the rumored miracle.”

“I know. But that doesn’t matter, does it?”

“…That’s right.”

 

A Hero isn’t a human with heroic qualities.

 

It’s one of the laws that make up the world, a compulsive force that ensures victory against the Demon Lord no matter what happens.

 

The power and abilities a Hero gains by overcoming trials are merely auxiliary devices for that purpose. In other words, it means such auxiliary devices can be given in unlimited amounts, ignoring the limits of talent.

 

That was the law inscribed by God in a world where God had disappeared, a thousand years ago.

 

“But a Hero isn’t something that can be created through simple experimentation.”

 

A Hero is the Demon Lord’s adversary. In other words, it means a Hero cannot be born without a Demon Lord.

 

Not even a year had passed since the Second Hero defeated the Demon Lord.

 

Logically, it meant the environment couldn’t produce a new Hero. This was why people didn’t easily believe the rumors about a Hero.

 

However, the Young Man answered without hesitation, as if he had expected this.

 

“You don’t need to worry about that. We’ve confirmed that a divine oracle about the birth of a new Demon Lord was already delivered through the Religious Order’s Saint several months ago.”

 

The Tower Master, who had momentarily stopped breathing at the shocking story, rose from his seat.

 

Perhaps he simply couldn’t believe what the man had said.

 

“It will be a long experiment.”

 

At the Tower Master’s words, which seemed completely unrelated to the current situation, the young man let out a small sigh of relief.

 

“It will be expensive. My research is famous for devouring investors’ capital.”

“Of course.”

After finishing his words, the tower master who was stepping out of the tavern suddenly turned his head and asked.

“Well. Perhaps, the Demon Lord. Don’t you think?”

“Well. Perhaps, the Demon Lord. Don’t you think?”

“Ha, there you go with that boring nonsense again.”

The tower master said that and disappeared.

The young man, Dahan, head of the Golden Star Trading Company, merely smiled.

“Right. I expected it, but to this extent it’s quite…”

 

Jude averted his gaze from the burdensome stares.

 

He hadn’t wanted to go out in the first place. The Master’s thesis remaining in the Forbidden Library wasn’t that voluminous, but to understand it, he had to reference several times more books.

 

To understand that, he needed other books, and to understand those books, he needed other theses… The endlessly repeating cycle was quite arduous even for Jude, who could memorize most books after reading them once.

 

It was fortunate that he had the knowledge that came with absorbing the Master’s soul, otherwise he might have had to spend several months on it.

 

And now he had to waste time on such useless matters. For Jude, who was just finishing interpreting the thesis, he only wanted to return to the Tower as quickly as possible.

 

“Clothes just need to be sturdy, don’t they? We’ll be wearing Magic Tower robes anyway, so it matters even less.”

“Our newcomer is an old soul.”

 

Shtidy blocked Telon, who was approaching with a grin to poke his cheek, and said.

 

“These are all necessary things. I won’t ask you to pay me back, so just accept them.”

Shtidi blocked Telon, who was approaching with a grin to poke his cheek, and said.

“These are all things you need. I won’t ask you to pay me back, so just take them.”

“You need it?”

“What do you mean? Well…”

 

Unable to grasp the intent of the question, Shtidy cut off his confused response and crossed his arms.

 

“What are a mage’s main duties?”

“Correct. But to have that research recognized, you need to regularly participate in academic conferences to present papers and get them verified. What about the costs needed for research? The Tower provides some support, but for proper research, you need to visit nobles or merchants to request sponsorship. Their sponsorship isn’t just about providing funds. It’s like a guarantee that ‘this research is safe.’ There are cases where people research alone without backing and get branded as dark mages…”

 

Jude made a stunned expression at the relentless stream of words.

 

Shtidy pushed up his glasses with his index finger and asked.

 

“Do you understand?”

“It means you need to have a few sets of formal clothes. Just that alone can make others trust us.”

 

Telon, who had been listening from the side, simply summarized Shtidy’s long speech. Shtidy, who had been watching with a disgruntled expression, muttered somewhat irritably.

 

“It’s really ridiculous. What’s so important about appearances that they even influence the truth of important knowledge.”

“…Don’t tell me you’re calling me that? There’s not even any trace of the original form left.”

 

At the playful voice, Shtidy looked at him as if it were absurd. But his earlier irritable demeanor was no longer there.

 

Telon smiled with satisfaction and flipped through his memo.

 

Curious about the memo’s contents, Jude tried to sneak a peek, but each time he skillfully moved the memo out of sight.

 

“Let’s see, we bought this… Next is over there.”

 

Only his muttering voice allowed him to guess what was written there. Since this situation had already repeated several times, Jude was becoming fearful of how many more places they would have to visit.

 

‘Aren’t you tired?’

 

It had already been several hours. Even for Jude, who had physical abilities comparable to a decent knight, it was an exhausting situation.

 

Telon, who hadn’t wiped away his cheerful smile from before leaving the Magic Tower until now, seemed almost admirable.

 

How long had he been led around by the two of them like this?

 

“This way is a shortcut, you know? Cross over and there’s the restaurant we reserved… Are you okay?”

 

In the alley, Jude’s body stiffened after dodging a man who clumsily rushed at them.

 

It wasn’t an attack.

 

It wasn’t even a pickpocket. The man seemed too busy running away to have the presence of mind to look around.

 

But that face was quite familiar to Jude.

 

“…Johnny?”

It wasn’t an attack.

He wasn’t even a pickpocket. He just seemed like a man too busy running away to have any presence of mind to look around.

But that face was quite familiar to Jude.

“…Johnny?”

 

It was Johnny, who was undoubtedly being hailed as the new Hero.

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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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