I Picked up the Demon King - Chapter 75

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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 75

 

“Jude, are you okay?”

 

Shtidy approached Jude, who was blankly staring in the direction Johnny had disappeared, and asked with concern.

 

Jude was so confused he couldn’t even think of answering.

 

‘Why is Johnny here? Who is he running from? Did he not recognize me…?’

 

He had looked so frantic, and his appearance had changed quite a bit from when they lived in Belive Territory, so it was natural that he wouldn’t recognize him.

 

But everything else was a mystery.

 

A few days ago, hadn’t Melissa said that he would surely be receiving the utmost care?

 

He couldn’t understand why Johnny was running with such a terror-stricken face.

 

“What was the name of the restaurant?”

“I haven’t mentioned it yet.”

“Please go ahead. Something came up that I need to take care of.”

 

Saying that, Jude instantly rushed out of the alley.

 

He heard Shtidy calling after him a beat too late, but he ignored it. He had to hurry if he wanted to chase after Johnny, who had already disappeared from sight long ago.

 

The floating population of the Imperial Capital was incomparably larger than any city Jude had experienced so far.

 

Naturally, Jude, who had rushed out of the alley, immediately faced a predicament.

 

Getting swept up in countless crowds could make an unfamiliar person forget even where they came from. Fortunately, such a thing didn’t happen to Jude, who had never forgotten a path he’d taken once, but still, finding one target person among all these people was no easy task.

 

‘Even with Elven Senses… it’s no good. That Johnny, he’s surprisingly lacking in personality.’

 

If only Johnny could handle mana, it might have been a bit easier to distinguish him.

 

It was somewhat absurd that even while being hailed as a Hero, he couldn’t handle a bit of mana, but it wasn’t something that could be helped right now.

 

‘Let me think. Movements as if being chased by something. Where would Johnny have headed?’

 

The Johnny that Jude remembered wasn’t someone who fell far behind others. He was just an extremely ordinary person who somehow ended up working in the Guard Unit.

 

Then his actions in an emergency situation would likely be based on his experience from the Guard Unit. Chasing after those who committed crimes and fled was also part of the Guard Unit’s work.

 

‘He wouldn’t have thought to escape through the City Gate. That would be the first place to be controlled. After mixing into the crowd, there’s a high possibility he found his way into the sewers.’

 

The sewers were a place even the Guard Unit was reluctant to enter. The filth and stench that got on clothes weren’t easily removed, and occasionally monsters that hid away from people were said to appear there too.

 

He recalled Johnny’s casual advice that unless they were major criminals, they would generally give up the chase. Of course, Mike’s scolding not to teach such things followed immediately after.

 

The most likely possibility was the alley two or three blocks over. The direction would be to the left, where the crowd was heading when he burst out of the alley.

 

After finishing his analysis in the time it took to exhale twice, Jude pushed through the people and stepped into the alley. If there was no sewer cover in this alley, he planned to look elsewhere.

 

But what Jude witnessed upon entering the alley was neither Johnny nor a sewer.

 

“Hmm? What a coincidence. Isn’t this our Newcomer Tower Member. What business brings you alone to the capital?”

 

A low voice tinged with a somewhat tired air.

 

The Tower Master was standing there.

 

“Did you buy it new? The clothes suit you quite well.”

 

His heightened senses didn’t miss the traces of disturbed mana in the surroundings. The intense traces were rapidly disappearing, so much so that he wondered why he hadn’t felt them before entering the alley.

 

What kind of magic had been manifested in this place? By what method was the spread of traces being prevented and erased in real time?

 

Even for Jude, who had been rapidly accumulating knowledge about magic recently, it was completely beyond his comprehension.

 

“Uh, um…”

“Oh my. Did you forget my face? That’s quite hurtful.”

“…I greet the Tower Master.”

 

When Jude bowed his head while trying to suppress his trembling, the Green Tower Master burst into hearty laughter.

 

At first glance, he looked like an old man who was truly relieved that his face hadn’t been forgotten.

 

‘Is encountering the Tower Master in this place really a coincidence?’

 

There was no way that could be true.

 

“No matter how good the Empire’s public safety is, it’s dangerous to wander around alone. I was just about to return to the Tower, would you like to go together?”

 

Toward the Tower Master who was smiling and extending his hand, Jude could only nod his head.

 

* * *

 

“Good grief, disappearing so suddenly like that.”

“What can you do? He told us to go ahead first. And it was almost time for our restaurant reservation.”

“Aren’t you worried? The world is so dangerous these days.”

 

Contrary to the gentle music flowing around them, the atmosphere at the table was far from peaceful.

 

More precisely, one of the two people sitting across from each other didn’t look to be in a good mood. The man across from her was resting his chin on his hand and actually smiling pleasantly.

 

“It’s fine, it’s fine. He’s not a child… is he a child? Still, he’s probably wearing our Magic Tower Robe, and he’s said to have done various jobs as an unaffiliated mage before. I feel more at ease than when you’re alone, you know?”

“Senior, what do you mean by that.”

 

Shtidy looked serious and stared at Telon with cold eyes. Telon looked at her with a startled expression.

 

“Do I still look like a newcomer to you? I’ll have you know I’m a mage who has drunk my fair share of the Magic Tower’s bitter waters.”

“Yes, yes.”

 

Telon let out a sigh of relief.

 

While they were chattering, a waiter approached and served the food they had ordered in advance. Shtidy was surprised by the obviously expensive-looking dishes and asked.

 

“How do you even know about restaurants like this? Aren’t you pushing yourself too hard?”

“I pushed myself a bit to buy our newcomer a meal. Though it turned out to be pointless.”

“So buying me a meal is pointless, is that it?”

 

Her mood seemed to lighten a little, as there was a hint of laughter in her question, but Telon didn’t answer and just shook his head.

 

“Shall we eat first?”

“But will he be able to find this place? It must be quite complicated for someone visiting the capital for the first time.”

“Of course he won’t be able to come. He left without even hearing the name of the store.”

 

Shtidy shot up from her seat.

 

The table shook from the impact, and the food scattered. Shtidy’s cup fell over and the drink spilled. The only thing intact was Telon’s cup, which he had lifted up in advance.

 

Telon lightly moistened his throat and gestured.

 

“Sit down, sit down. That’s expensive stuff, isn’t it? It would be a waste if it gets cold. I told the guard unit on the way here, so nothing serious will happen. He might even be back at the tower before us. Right?”

“…Weren’t you with me the whole time? When did you talk to the guard unit?”

“When you went to the bathroom.”

 

Shtidy reluctantly sat back down and, unable to resist Telon’s urging, put a piece of meat from the plate into her mouth.

 

“…It does taste good.”

“Right?”

 

* * *

 

Jude, who had quickly returned to the Magic Tower using flight magic, looked at the elder beside him. The elder with a gentle appearance, who was hard to believe had been guarding the position of Green Magic Tower master for over a hundred years, laughed heartily.

 

“So, how is life at the Magic Tower treating you?”

“…Yes. The seniors have been helping me a lot.”

“That’s good to hear. Shtidy. She’s a fun child to tease. I can still picture when she first entered the tower, and now she already knows how to take care of a junior. She’s become a proper mage.”

 

Jude couldn’t voice the simple question of why he had been in that place.

 

Even with just a small clue, an archmage’s intellect could reach unexpected conclusions. For Jude, who was hiding his identity, he had to be careful about even the smallest things.

 

Though he didn’t know that his identity had already been somewhat exposed through Melissa.

 

“Have you decided on a research topic?”

“No, not yet…”

“There’s no rush, so take your time deciding. If you want, it wouldn’t be bad to experience other children’s research rooms little by little. I can arrange it if you’d like. However… the tower will be quite chaotic for a while, so don’t worry about that too much.”

 

Jude looked at the Tower Master with questioning eyes.

 

It felt excessively casual and kind for simply treating a newcomer mage. But whether he knew of Jude’s doubts or not, the Tower Master leisurely checked the time and said.

 

“I’ve been keeping a busy young man here for no reason. If you get stuck while researching, feel free to come find me anytime. An old man like me needs friends to talk to. As long as it’s not too late at night.”

 

Saying the last part was a joke, he winked and disappeared, leaving Jude staring blankly for a moment.

 

“…What was that about.”

 

The mystery wasn’t solved, but thanks to that, he was able to return to the Magic Tower quickly.

 

Jude went down to the library to organize his complicated thoughts. He planned to solve the matters where he had almost gathered all the clues first, rather than things he couldn’t immediately understand.

 

He pulled out several books he had memorized beforehand and quickly read through them.

 

After alternating between examining theses and books for a while. Not long after reading through all the thick books, Jude finally turned to the last page of the thesis.

 

[Therefore, methods for artificially creating heroes can be broadly summarized into two approaches.

 

First is to pre-select and prepare individuals with the qualities to become heroes. As described earlier, potential talent superiority is judged to be a more important factor than immediate ability.

 

For this purpose, existing preliminary research that continuously injects mana from the fetal stage to raise the limits of talent can serve as meaningful reference. Additionally, some research claiming correlations between souls and talent is also worth reviewing as it relates to this discussion.

 

However, when choosing this method, creating an environment that suppresses excessive ability growth until the time of trials becomes more critical for individuals with exceptional talent, as this factor is likely to…]

 

The conclusion section of the thesis wasn’t difficult.

 

What Jude had found most challenging in understanding the thesis were the countless measurement data and references needed to reach this conclusion.

 

But because of that, Jude’s reading pace was actually slow.

 

[Second is to select individuals without talent and ability, artificially impose trials as a ‘hero,’ and force them to overcome these challenges.

 

What must be particularly noted in this method is that, as suggested in preliminary research, even if trial intensity is adjusted to some extent according to the candidate’s abilities, the difficulty will not drop below a certain threshold.

 

Therefore, implementing this method requires not only massive capital and organizational support, but there are also no means to quantitatively measure or predict this.

 

Furthermore, actions by external forces assisting or intervening in trials may also be considered part of the candidate’s abilities…]

 

From the circumstances, this seemed to be the method the Dawn Order wanted to use to make Johnny a hero.

 

Since he was just an ordinary person with a bit of training, he could become the candidate they wanted. The fact that I had used his name would also have had an influence.

 

“The problem is how they knew this information…”

 

But that wasn’t what was important right now.

 

The thesis had now reached its end.

 

[However, even if either of the two aforementioned methods is adopted and implemented, ultimately for the birth of a ‘Hero’, the prerequisite condition of an adversary, namely the existence of a ‘Demon Lord’, acts as an essential and indispensable element.

 

Looking at prior research, the hypothesis that the conditions for Trial occurrence cannot be met without the Demon Lord’s invasion has been repeatedly raised. However, predicting when the Demon Lord will invade the Middle Realm is virtually impossible.

 

Accordingly, a plan to artificially open a ‘Gate’ leading to the Demon Realm and induce limited invasion of the Middle Realm, thereby fulfilling the conditions for Hero birth, can be presented as a realistic alternative.

 

However, to minimize damage in this process, the selection of the Gate opening location appears to be a critical variable, and this research judges the Balaih Kingdom in the Southern Continent to be a relatively suitable candidate site considering geographical conditions.

 

Future research will need to conduct additional verification of alternative candidate sites other than the relevant region, and parallel analysis of impacts according to Gate opening scale.]

 

Jude silently put down the thesis he held in his hands.

 

-So, how do you feel after reading it all?

“….”

-Are you shocked that your Master’s research brought about such terrible devastation? Or are you feeling guilt?

 

As the Demon Lord’s mockery continued, Jude, who had been listening quietly, grabbed the Demon Lord’s soul.

 

-Kuaaak!

 

Screams that continued for a while.

 

Jude, who had been watching with a serious expression, finally opened his mouth.

 

“You’ve been free from the contract’s influence for a long time, haven’t you?”

-….

 

The screaming stopped.

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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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