I Picked up the Demon King - Chapter 77

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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 77

After that day, seeing Telon became a difficult task.

With Shtidy, who used to come knocking on his door first whenever he was resting, now gone, and Telon, who was always standing by her side, having disappeared as well, what came to Jude instead was silence.

It wasn’t that the other Mages ignored Jude, but once their research funding was secured, they all seemed incredibly busy without a moment to spare, constantly carrying around that mysterious black liquid.

They looked so haggard. He seriously wondered if the Undead he’d only heard about in stories had actually invaded the Magic Tower.

-Well, they’re somewhat similar in a way. In that they can’t die even if they want to.

Ignoring the Demon Lord’s joke, Jude looked around the research room.

A research room had been provided to Jude as well, now that his adaptation period was over. True to the Green Magic Tower’s chronic staff shortage, there were many options available, and among them, Jude chose the research room that Shtidy had been using until recently.

There wasn’t any particular reason for it. When he was first invited to her research room, he had felt that the location was good, and that impression still held.

“Maybe I shouldn’t have chosen this place.”

The mountain of research materials that had been piled up was gone, and the scattered items had been organized, but it still felt like Shtidy might pop out at any moment.

Still, he’d probably get used to it over time.

Writing a thesis didn’t require that much time, but it was a place where he needed to spend long hours, if only to keep up appearances. Jude sat down in the chair after piling up a blanket and a few changes of clothes he’d brought from his room in one corner.

Sevian’s thesis.

It was a thesis filled with the ambition to define and recreate the Hero as a law, but there were things that couldn’t be understood from that alone.

Sevian wasn’t the only one who had written such a thesis.

Since he had referenced various materials to interpret the thesis, Jude naturally had to visit the Forbidden Library several times. In that process, he discovered that the Green Magic Tower’s Forbidden Library had an unusually large amount of research materials about ‘Heroes’.

While Sevian’s work was the most outstanding in terms of completeness, would that alone be enough to warrant Melissa personally giving a warning?

Of course, considering that the place where he found those materials was the Forbidden Library, it wasn’t entirely incomprehensible. The Forbidden Library contained quite a few other dangerous materials as well. For example, materials about real Dark Magic that even Jude had never encountered.

But as Telon had said, the Forbidden Library wasn’t as tremendous a place as one might imagine.

There were no books with demons sealed inside them, or books with powerful curses that made them fly around. Even if it really were such a place, from a certain perspective, Jude, who carried the Demon Lord’s soul in his body, would be hundreds of times more terrifying.

The point was, the materials in the Forbidden Library probably weren’t everything.

What Melissa had warned about was probably regarding the circumstances of how Sevian betrayed the Magic Tower and became a Dark Mage. The reason couldn’t be understood just by reading the thesis.

“What comes to mind is…”

Asking someone who had been at the Magic Tower at that time, or finding related records. But due to the massive brain drain, there was no one who might have been at the Magic Tower back then except for the Tower Master.

Even if he tried to find records, it seemed unlikely that a Magic Tower that had shoved all the theses into the Forbidden Library just because their author became a Dark Mage would have kept records from that time. Even if there were some remaining, they wouldn’t be easily accessible.

-How about pretending to be crazy and just asking the Tower Master directly?

“…That’s not pretending to be crazy, that’s just plain crazy.”

How would that be different from confessing to an Archmage that he was a Dark Mage? Jude, who had been trying to ignore the Demon Lord, finally couldn’t hold back and blurted out a response.

Unless he did something about the mana in his body, that couldn’t be an option. No matter how absolute the power of Deception Magic was, Jude himself, who cast it, wasn’t perfect.

“…Should I quit being a Dark Mage?”

-…?

“If I destroy my Mana Core and gather mana anew, wouldn’t that work somehow? I could start a new life as a proud Mage of the Green Magic Tower instead of a Dark Mage.”

-…Do you think that would work?

The Demon Lord let out a hollow laugh, then sighed and spoke.

-If you destroy your Mana Core, the mana contained within would go berserk and tear your body to pieces. Of course, it would be a different story if you emptied the Mana Core first like before. You haven’t forgotten, have you? Where your Mana Core is located.

“It’s in my heart. Do you think I wouldn’t know that?”

-How do you plan to destroy your Mana Core in a state where you’ve completely emptied your mana?

“Well…”

Jude closed his mouth.

If there was mana remaining, he could somehow carefully control it to destroy only the Mana Core, but if there was no mana, he’d have to use physical force. If it was enough physical force to destroy a Mana Core, his heart would be crushed before the Mana Core broke.

Jude realized it. Being a Dark Mage wasn’t something you could quit just because you wanted to. Once you stepped onto the path of Dark Magic, it was a fate you couldn’t escape from while alive.

“Actually, I was just joking. Quitting being a Dark Mage? Being a Dark Mage is a wonderful profession…!”

Trying hard to brush off the Demon Lord’s mockery, Jude got up from his seat.

Quite some time had passed since he’d entered the research room.

Jude, who had been planning to grab a meal at the Tower Cafeteria that had recently resumed operations and then return, opened the research room door and froze in place.

“…Ah.”

“…”

Telon, who hadn’t shown his face for a while, was standing beyond the door.

How long had he been there? Had he heard the conversation with the Demon Lord? Even if he hadn’t heard everything, if he’d heard that final praise of Dark Mages, it couldn’t be passed off as a joke.

‘…Should I kill him?’

Jude seriously considered it.

“Jude…? Why are you here, ah…”

Should he call it fortunate? A situation where he’d have to kill the only person in the Magic Tower he could call a friend didn’t arise.

It was because of Telon’s appearance, staring blankly beyond the research room with a dazed expression, as if he hadn’t noticed Jude’s presence. Feeling inwardly grateful for the Green Magic Tower’s excellent soundproofing facilities, Jude let out a sigh of relief and asked.

“What’s wrong?”

“Just….”

Watching him stand still as if momentarily broken, Jude waited quietly.

Other mages in the tower often had their minds elsewhere like this due to lack of sleep. Compared to the others who reminded him of the undead, Telon was in relatively good condition.

“An exchange meeting?”

Though he felt like Telon was trying to change the subject, Jude asked back about the completely unexpected topic.

“Yeah. It’s called an exchange meeting, but the atmosphere doesn’t seem like it’ll be good. The Red Magic Tower and Blue Tower have been protesting quite a bit. About the Hero’s companion issue.”

“About which tower has the qualifications to produce the Hero’s companion… It seems like they want to compete.”

With Shtidy already selected as a companion, what would change even if they protested? He had some doubts, but it was already a done deal.

“Since the First Hero’s companion founded the Red Magic Tower. I guess they felt some sense of crisis.”

“Because the first hero’s companion built the Red Magic Tower. I guess they felt threatened.”

“Oh, yes.”

Either way, it has nothing to do with Jude. Whether it’s a social gathering or a fight, the upperclassmen will handle it themselves.

“…What?”

Those were the words the Tower Master blurted out as soon as he came directly to the research room.

The Tower Master always looked at him with a kind smile, but right now his eyes held heat close to murderous intent.

“Normally I’d want to tell you to focus on research in the tower, but those traitor bastards are planning to participate in large numbers at that exchange meeting.”

“Traitors…”

“I’d normally tell you to stay in the tower and focus on your research, but a bunch of those traitor bastards are planning to attend the exchange meeting that day.”

“If you’re a traitor….”

“Without a doubt, they’re trash who abandoned our Green Mage Tower and left.”

“I know that, but…”

In the end, all he could do was politely decline, but the Tower Master’s momentum didn’t subside.

“The exchange meeting events aren’t just combat. We plan to compete for the tower’s honor by selecting winners in various categories like magic formula calculations and magic circle creation.”

In the end, all he could do was politely decline, but the tower master’s enthusiasm showed no signs of waning.

“The exchange meeting isn’t just about combat. We’ll be crowning winners in various categories like spell calculations and magic circle creation to compete for the honor of the magic tower.”

“I heard you did some mercenary work before entering the tower…”

It was the first time seeing the Magic Tower Lord so full of vigor and enthusiasm. Partly because it was rare to see the Tower Lord in the first place, but judging by his current appearance, he looked healthy enough to continue holding his position for another ten years.

“Um, it’s only been two weeks since I entered the magic tower.”

“I heard you did some mercenary work before entering the tower…”

“What could I have possibly done? Just some errands, that’s all.”

Whether it was spell calculations, magic circle construction, or even combat, he was confident he could win against anyone who wasn’t an archmage like a tower master. He could probably just go out and swing his fists, and most people would collapse before they could even finish casting a spell.

‘Or maybe not…? It might be a little different when I think about Senior Telon…’

Considering Telon’s physical strength that had shocked even Jude himself, mages might unexpectedly be beings who don’t neglect physical training.

In any case, Jude had no reason to attend the social gathering.

This was because he wanted to enjoy the peace that had returned along with the noticeably reduced sense of crisis since Stidi was chosen as the hero’s companion, and he also felt it would be awkward if he performed too well and ended up facing Johnny.

“…?”

When they encountered each other in the capital, the situation was urgent so he chased after him without thinking, but when he thought about it, Jude was the one who had destroyed Johnny’s life when he was living peacefully in the Believe territory. No matter how inevitable it was that they would become enemies, he couldn’t forget the faces of those who had been laughing and chatting happily at the time.

Whatever the Dawn Alliance was plotting, I wanted to avoid directly confronting them if at all possible.

“It can’t be helped. I was planning to announce this later when we’re all together.”

“For those who participate, we plan to open our Green Magic Tower’s secret vault. There, you’ll be able to choose five… no, three artifacts per person to take with you.”

Contrary to what many people think, mages are often helpless when it comes to actual combat.

The reason was simple.

This is because incantation alone is not enough to cast magic. One must properly control mana while simultaneously calculating complex formulas. Of course, the incantation must not be interrupted during this process.

This is why, even though wizards may know many spells, they typically settle on using only two or three spells as their main repertoire.

Because it’s nearly impossible to use in real situations unless you practice repeatedly to the point where it comes out reflexively when triggered.

To overcome such drawbacks, artifacts are sometimes created by engraving magic circles onto objects, but the reality is that most wizards can’t even dream of affording them due to the expensive production costs, despite their convenience.

Even those aren’t permanent, but consumable items that break after being used a few times. In the case of the Red Magic Tower, which specializes in combat, it’s said that their annual budget for consumables rivals that of a modest small kingdom.

In short, artifacts are expensive. If they’re sleeping in the treasury of a magic tower, they can only be considered treasures that everyone would covet.

The fact that they’re letting each person choose three of them means the Tower Master is truly serious about this exchange meeting.

“I’m thinking of transferring ownership of that artifact to students who show excellent performance. Of course, it would be difficult for everyone to achieve excellent results, but just participating will be a good experience.”

The tower master shrugged his shoulders with strong confidence.

Jude answered.

“…you said it’s fine?”

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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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