Reincarnated as a Genius Prodigy of a Prestigious Family - Chapter 261

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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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Reincarnated as a Legendary Talent Genius of a Noble Family Episode 261

169. The Jungle Sorcerer (2)

Their eyes are filled with bewilderment.

Understandably so.

They’ve been struck by the very power they believe to be ‘sorcery.’

Based on what I’ve deduced, their world is probably limited to the depths of this jungle and at most the village.

In that sense, my ‘sorcery’ must be at a level they’ve never heard of or seen before.

Or perhaps…

It’s familiar.

“He’s definitely a mage.”

Altur added his confirmation from beside me.

Though not quite at my level, Altur is also a skilled mage.

He seemed to immediately detect the mana swirling within these two ‘apostle’ fellows.

“But the feeling is similar to yours, Dane. What’s going on? Of course, it’s similar but definitely different. There’s absolutely no comparison.”

Altur is right.

The mana swirling within these fellows has a similar nature to mine.

In other words, what’s inside that jungle is indeed an ancient magic power concentrate.

And that concentrate is currently possessed by an entity called ‘Mother.’

Of course, I can’t act on speculation alone, so I first withdrew my gravity magic.

“Cough, gasp. Gasp.”

“Wheeze, wheeze.”

Suddenly released from the pressure, the fellows couldn’t regain their composure.

In that gap, Ernest quickly bound both their hands and feet with rope.

“Well done.”

With this, the interrogation environment was complete.

I first checked the magic field I had set up in advance, then opened my mouth toward them.

“I’m going to ask you a few questions now. If you don’t answer truthfully, you’ll be fine.”

“…”

As expected, where would you find disloyal fellows who answer from the start?

That’s why I prepared.

A method that can only be used on fellows like these.

“If you don’t answer or tell lies, this is what will happen.”

I brought my hand near the male apostle’s heart area.

“What, what are you trying to… Ugh!”

Then the circle formed inside his heart, that is, the circle where the ancient magic power concentrate swirled, reacted to my mana.

Simply put, this power is something I can take away.

It might be different with other ordinary mana.

The circle formed by the ancient magic power concentrate on my side is already resonating.

To absorb them.

“How about it? Do you feel some fear?”

What’s most important to a mage?

Undoubtedly, it’s mana.

More precisely, the source mana gathered in the circle.

The moment that’s destroyed, a mage’s life is over.

Well, given that it’s located in the heart anyway, destroying the circle is the same as destroying the heart—

If I could remove the circle this way, it would be an absurd situation where the circle disappears even while they’re perfectly alive.

“St, stop it!”

Therefore, the expected scream burst out.

I curled up the corners of my mouth and withdrew my hand.

“Do you feel like answering now?”

“I, I’ll answer. I’ll answer!”

“Good.”

Altur asked from the side.

“What did you do?”

“I threatened them with their circles.”

“…What a cruel bastard.”

“Did you imagine it?”

“It’s something I don’t even want to imagine.”

Altur shuddered.

I chuckled at his reaction and focused on the two again.

“Now, I’ll ask the questions.”

There are three things I’m curious about.

First.

“What exactly is your ‘Mother’ like?”

Second.

“Where is ‘Mother’ located?”

The two answered faithfully.

Mother is a powerful entity who uses ‘sorcery’ and lives in the ‘Tree Castle’ deep inside the jungle.

There were other miscellaneous stories, but excluding those.

The key point is this, the third question.

“You fellows, and all those you call ‘Mother’… you’re from the village, right? All children offered as ‘sacrifices.'”

“…!”

No answer was heard.

But it was a reaction as good as an answer.

“Good heavens…”

Reutake, who had been watching his son from the side, collapsed with a thud.

“Then, then everyone… the children offered as sacrifices are now living in there calling that sorcerer ‘Mother’…?”

That’s about right.

Since they called them ‘sacrifices,’ I only thought they had given their lives somewhere, but combining all the facts I’ve discovered so far, such a hypothesis emerges.

First, the tattoo in a similar position to Reutake’s body.

Though it’s faint, perhaps forcibly erased, it’s still recognizable enough.

And the distinctive speech patterns and word usage of these jungle village people.

Linguistic habits don’t disappear that easily.

Just like how I still remember the Drenik language, and its accent slightly shows through.

“It’s not such a remarkable deduction.”

The village people always regarded the apostles sent by the ‘sorcerer’ as objects of fear, so they wouldn’t have had the chance to examine this.

“Just how many scoops are there…”

Griffin seemed so excited he didn’t know what to do with himself.

“A jungle untouched by the Empire’s reach, a village that rejects foreigners, a sorcerer in the jungle, and the truth about that sorcerer… This means freelance reporting from now on!”

I suppose I just need to remove anything related to ancient magic from there.

But there’s still an unresolved question.

“Then what is that ‘Mother’ trying to do with that power?”

“Mother is… searching for a ‘suitable one.’ A suitable one who can fully accept that power and bring about a ‘kingdom’ to this place.”

What ambitious dreams.

Even I, who have three of them, never thought of founding a nation.

Well, playing king in a place like this wouldn’t be difficult.

What’s important is that the reason for gathering children has been revealed.

Ancient magic power concentrate.

Finding a child capable of accepting that power.

“But until now, there hasn’t been a single child who qualified as a ‘suitable candidate.’ Even Mother couldn’t fully accept that power, and could only borrow it temporarily…”

Anyway, I found out what I needed to know.

“What do we do now?”

Ernest’s question.

I finished thinking and opened my mouth.

“Let’s go see the sorcerer.”

We first sent back Reutake and the two children who had almost become sacrifices.

Naturally, they weren’t going to the village, but joining up with Leila who would be waiting on the other side.

I assigned Ernest to accompany them. Since I couldn’t take him all the way inside, this was the best choice.

“Thank you, thank you. May I… call you my benefactor?”

“Let’s think about titles slowly after we return.”

Reutake left with Ernest, carrying the children while continuously expressing his gratitude.

Now Altur, Griffin, and I moved toward the jungle on the opposite side.

Along with the two ‘apostle’ fellows whose hands were bound and mana restricted.

“…”

“…”

Whether they had given up or were thinking about something else, those guys remained completely silent.

But whatever it was didn’t matter.

If they tried any foolish tricks, I could subdue them immediately.

Only after walking for quite a while did they finally speak.

“We’re almost there.”

Then I began to notice a magic field with a different concentration than before.

Indeed, since this was called ‘Mother’s’ domain, it seemed to be thoroughly protected.

“It’s a high-level magic field.”

Altur clicked his tongue.

He was right.

But it seemed like they couldn’t fully use the power of the ancient magic concentrate.

Apparently, they couldn’t absorb it.

Good.

In this situation, one of the apostle fellows spoke up.

“…If you cross this place, you’ll reach the ‘Tree Castle’ where Mother resides.”

“Then lead the way.”

“Before that… there’s something I’d like to request.”

I tilted my head.

“You’re not in a position to be saying such things right now.”

“W-we answered all your questions and even guided you to ‘Mother’!”

“True. But we need to see until the end whether that will benefit us.”

“…”

There was no need to grant their request in this situation.

It would be sufficient to do so after everything was over.

Until then, I planned to pressure them as much as possible.

I wasn’t sure what they were trying to ‘request.’

I ignored them and stood before the magic field.

I could scatter and dismantle the mana arrangement as it was, but since we’d come this far, that ‘Mother’ would probably start detecting our intrusion soon.

So I prepared.

“Karnas.”

“Kirik!”

Flames that would melt, burn, and pierce through anything.

Whoooosh!

The flames that burst from Karnas’s mouth covered the magic barrier and melted it instantly, creating a hole large enough for two people to pass through.

“Let’s go.”

I passed through the hole, leaving behind my dazed companions.

At the same time-

“Here they come.”

A massive fireball happened to be flying toward us.

This was perfect.

One blast of flames wouldn’t be enough, would it?

“Kiruuuuk!”

Karnas spewed flames once more, and those flames engulfed the incoming fireball-

Just like before in the Habarosk Mountain Range cave, it devoured the fireball and became an even larger fireball that flew back to the other side.

BOOM!

And then an explosive sound.

The other side fell silent.

I wondered what had happened.

When I heightened my sensing ability, I could see the flow of mana.

I immediately realized there was no need to enhance my sensing ability further.

The ‘Mother’s’ ‘Tree Castle’ was blazing brightly, illuminating the surroundings from the fireball that Karnas had enlarged and returned.

Then I could see them.

“My goodness…”…”

A group of people standing around the Tree Castle.

And even the being called ‘Mother’ standing at their center.

“Ah.”

What I had only speculated became certainty, and I confirmed that certainty with my eyes.

All of them were mages.

I suddenly recalled the flow of mana I had felt from the two young children who had almost become sacrifices.

The being called ‘Mother’ had ultimately been taking children with the potential to become mages from the village.

Making them into mages, and in that process, searching for a ‘suitable candidate.’

“What… are you!”

A cry filled with bewilderment reached my ears.

It must surely be Mother’s.

Judging by the rough, murky voice, aside from simple bewilderment, her health didn’t seem very good either.

“Do not disturb our peace… and be gone!”

“Be gone!”

“Return our child to us!”

“Return them!”

The sight of them chanting in unison following Mother’s words was truly eerie.

Brainwashing? Or perhaps genuine affection for the ‘Mother’ who raised them?

I wasn’t sure about that.

It wasn’t particularly important information either.

“I sent the children back.”

I said this and added.

“You’re searching for a suitable candidate?”

A startled voice.

“How does that foreigner know about that…”

‘Mother’s’ gaze turned toward the two apostles I had captured.

The two apostles with bound hands lowered their heads under that gaze and trembled.

It was clear fear.

“You have betrayed me…”

“M-Mother, it’s not like that!”

“How could you betray me, the one who gave you power….”

Before it could turn into a melodrama, I chuckled and said a word.

“Let’s speak plainly. You only temporarily lent them power they couldn’t even use properly, and only within this jungle, right?”

“…!”

‘Mother’s’ eyes widen greatly.

That expression asking how I knew.

“That’s why you’re looking for a Suitable Candidate. You need someone who can use that power completely.”

“How do you know that….”

At this point, one question arises.

Is creating a ‘kingdom’ really the true purpose?

In that state, even if they tried to create a kingdom or whatever, they might soon die of old age or disease.

Then what could it be.

Well, I’ll find out the reason eventually.

“Speak! What are you!”

To that strained cry, I answered.

“I am the very ‘Suitable Candidate’ you’ve been looking for.”

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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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