The Archmage’s Destruction Strategy - Chapter 14

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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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#014. Bribe

Sung-jun, who had arrived at the survivor camp with Seoa, ignored the long line and approached a soldier who was holding a gun and keeping watch around the area.

He could feel sharp stares pouring down on the back of his head, but he couldn’t afford to waste time standing in a line that might never get shorter.

However, the soldier managing order with his gun didn’t stop him from approaching despite ignoring the line, and was actually waiting for Sung-jun to approach with sparkling eyes.

“Please get in line.”

“Everyone has their own circumstances, don’t they?”

Sung-jun deliberately turned his body to cleverly block the surrounding gazes, and slipped a pack of cigarettes he was holding in his other hand into the soldier’s hand.

The soldier quickly snatched the cigarettes and stepped back slightly, speaking in a calm voice.

“What can I help you with?”

“I’d like to register as a refugee.”

“Even if you apply for registration right now, it will take at least a week.”

The soldier, pleased with the unexpected additional income, informed him about the current situation within the camp.

The amount of supplies being transported from the main supply warehouse in Gyeonggi-do had significantly decreased since a month ago.

The current supply amount barely covered the survival of officially registered refugees in the camp, so they were delaying the refugee registration process as much as possible, which had initially been available immediately.

Then Seoa, who had been listening to the soldier’s story from behind, stepped forward and said.

“Still, these are citizens who came here trusting the government, shouldn’t the country take responsibility and protect them?”

“Of course the government would like to do that, but supplies don’t just fall from the sky. Once someone is ‘registered’ as a refugee, that person becomes someone the state must take responsibility for. But if they’re citizens who haven’t been registered as refugees yet, the responsibility for their survival lies with themselves.”

“…That sounds like sophistry.”

“Anyway, new registrations are difficult right now. Unless supplies fall from the sky, this situation will probably continue for a while. I’m sorry I can’t be of more help despite the gift you gave me.”

“No, the information you just gave us was very helpful.”

Sung-jun lightly bowed his head to the soldier and left the camp entrance with Seoa.

Then he sat on a tree stump that someone had cut down and began making plans for what to do next.

‘Originally I was going to give a modest bribe to get her registered immediately and leave…’

He thought that camps near the metropolitan area might have decent supply situations, but soon erased that thought from his head.

The fact that such long lines extended even to camps in these remote areas meant that camps in the metropolitan area were already close to full capacity.

Then Seoa, who had been quietly observing from behind, spoke to Sung-jun in a voice as quiet as a mosquito crawling.

“Um… do you think registration will be difficult?”

“That’s part of it, and looking at the current situation, even if we register, we probably won’t receive satisfactory supplies…”

Sung-jun conveyed his objective analysis of the current situation to Seoa.

It might be harsh information for a high school girl who would have to endure all of this alone from now on, but he judged it would be better for her to make plans and prepare mentally based on the information she had acquired.

After hearing the explanation, Seoa nodded and said to Sung-jun.

“Then I have two main options available to me. One is to join that long line we saw earlier and wait until my turn comes, and the other is to gather information outside while securing supplies that might advance my turn.”

“Securing supplies? How?”

“I saw various things near that long line earlier. Most people were standing in line waiting for their turn, but there were others who weren’t. I think those people probably found their own survival methods by establishing bases near camps where they could expect some protection and exploring the surroundings or bartering.”

“What are you planning to do?”

“I’ll become a merchant if necessary. You gave me items that could serve as starting capital.”

Seoa took out the two packs of cigarettes I had given her earlier from her chest.

Her tone suggested I shouldn’t worry and should leave quickly since she could handle her own affairs.

However, despite her deliberately bright expression, her voice carried traces of fear that couldn’t be hidden.

‘What should I do…’

It wasn’t that there were no methods at all.

Using the ‘donation registration’ system, which allowed immediate registration as an official refugee if one donated a certain amount of materials that would help the camp.

Sung-jun judged that he could at least do that much with his current abilities, so he stood up and said to Seoa.

“Don’t worry too much. I’ll somehow handle the registration issue.”

“What? You don’t need to do that…”

“I’m doing this because I want to, so don’t feel too burdened. If I leave like this, my heart will feel heavier anyway, so I’m doing this for myself.”

After that, Sung-jun took Seoa to a deserted area near some ruins.

Then he took out six oddly-shaped wooden figurines from the bag on his back, placed them around her, and drew a small circle about one meter in diameter with chalk.

“Karadra e digitum, dallis ostende armataoris spiciem.”

As he crossed his fingers and muttered the incantation, light began emanating from the sticks, and a complex glowing magic circle was instantly generated around the circle he had just drawn. Sung-jun handed her a stone with rune letters carved on it and said.

“It’s a 6th-grade barrier spell. Once you’re inside, all sound and visual information will be distorted from the outside, so even aberrants won’t be able to find you. Without this stone, even I would have some trouble breaking this spell, so wait inside.”

“…Are you really a mage?”

“I can also use talismans, so would you call me a Taoist then?”

“…No…”

“Then wait a moment. It won’t take long. Do you happen to have a student ID or something?”

“Oh, yes. Just a moment.”

After receiving the student ID from Seoa, Sung-jun immediately cast teleport, leaving her behind.

His target was near the supply warehouse installed inside the camp.

To infiltrate that place, which was heavily guarded to prevent potential thieves, Sung-jun simultaneously cast concealment magic to hide his appearance and blocking magic to muffle sounds, then entered the supply warehouse.

And inside, there were far fewer supplies than expected, filling corner spaces in a pitiful manner that didn’t match the large interior space.

“It’s more serious than I thought.”

Considering the scale of the refugee camp, this amount was woefully insufficient to supply not only the refugees but also the soldiers guarding the camp.

Sung-jun examined the inventory list next to the supply boxes to get a more detailed understanding of the situation.

“Beef fried rice, seasoned sausage, pound cake, hardtack…”

Military combat rations that any South Korean male would recognize, and rice bags with the ‘Narami’ mark proving they were government supply rice.

Excluding various foods supplied in canned form, most of the supply boxes were empty.

Even the cooking oil supplied in drum form didn’t have much left, so he could roughly understand the situation the camp was facing.

‘Food shortage.’

If a South Korean citizen who knew the supply situation well before the disaster heard about food shortages just three months after D-day, they might ask what kind of ridiculous situation this was, but in fact, supply issues had been one of the chronic problems that had most severely plagued the South Korean government since right after D-day.

Due to issues like expiration dates, the amount of supplies available to each unit was limited, and basically the government’s emergency supply system was built entirely on the premise of ‘continuous supply provision.’

No matter how much stockpiled materials the government accumulated, it was woefully insufficient to keep up with the amount of materials consumed by the over ten million people concentrated in the metropolitan area.

Moreover, preparing supply bases in rural areas where land was relatively cheap due to expensive metropolitan land prices was also one of the causes of critical supply problems.

No matter how abundantly materials were stockpiled, if the supply warehouse itself fell within the domain of corrosion entities like the rice warehouse Sung-jun used to frequent, those materials became as good as a pie in the sky.

Furthermore, with maritime and air import lines cut off, the government was treating the recapture of major supply bases as one of its top priorities.

‘In that case…’

Sung-jun, who had formulated a specific plan, tore open one of the combat rations in the supply box and placed it in a corner of the tent.

Then he began waiting for his desired target to appear.

After a short while…

“Squeak… squeak… squeak…”

When an unwelcome guest that inevitably appears in environments with poor hygiene and pest control came following the delicious smell, he cast the control magic he had pre-cast toward the target.

Then a strange vision began entering Sung-jun’s field of view, as if dual screens had been activated.

‘I know you’re hungry, but help me with my work first.’

When he sent his intention strongly through his mind, the rat that had come looking for food nimbly turned around and went outside the tent.

Then Sung-jun moved the rat toward what appeared to be the command control tent, watching through a vision like controlling a mini-car while being careful not to get stepped on by people around.

His target was the map on the wall of the command control room.

The information Sung-jun wanted was neatly organized there, and as soon as he obtained the target information, he released the consciousness control connected to the mouse and cast teleport to a high altitude far from the camp.

“Since I don’t have coordinates, I’ll have to fly there.”

The subsequent work proceeded swiftly.

Flying to the abandoned military base marked on the map, defeating the monsters occupying it, then drawing markers for teleportation magic on the supplies remaining in the base warehouse.

Of course, some bases had empty warehouses where the units had swept away all remaining supplies when they withdrew, but there were also bases that still had usable materials.

However, this work, which seemed simple in explanation, was never easy even for awakened individuals quite experienced in combat.

The very fact that support materials remained meant that corrosion entities powerful enough for the government to abandon recapture existed in those areas.

But for Sung-jun, the world’s only existing magic user and successor to the 22nd Demon Lord title, such corrosion entities were nothing more than punching bags.

-Kwa-kwa-kwa-kwa-kwang!-

“Kueeeeek!!!”

After finishing the marking work on all supplies, Sung-jun returned to where Seoa was using teleportation magic.

Then he summoned all the marked supplies to one location and brought Seoa nearby.

“At least with this much, registration itself shouldn’t be a problem.”

“…Isn’t this too much for a bribe?”

“I looked at the supply warehouse inside the camp, and there weren’t many materials left. It’s probably because supplies from Seoul are delayed, but with this much material, there should be some breathing room in supply quantities for a certain period. I hear regional recapture is proceeding smoothly recently, so the supply situation should improve afterward too.”

Upon hearing those words, Seoa wore a contemplative expression for a moment before shaking her head.

“It seems too dangerous.”

“Dangerous?”

“You seem reluctant to expose your abilities to the government right now… am I right?”

When Sung-jun nodded, Seoa continued her explanation.

“But at a time like this, offering supplies that would be impossible for a civilian to obtain as a bribe, and all just to register a single girl like me? Anyone would find that suspicious, right? Moreover… these are military supplies. If it were just a small amount of supplies that a civilian secretly snuck in and stole, that would be one thing, but bringing this large quantity of supplies…”

“You’re saying I could be suspected of being a criminal who illegally seized military supplies?”

“Yes. At least I would be suspicious if I were them.”

Upon hearing her words, Sung-jun fell into thought for a moment.

Then he took out chalk from his pocket and began drawing a large magic circle near the prepared supplies.

After completing the form of the magic circle, he crossed his fingers and began chanting an incantation.

“Beraxasis puga bulte priestlingere…”

Seoa watched with sparkling eyes as Sung-jun chanted the long incantation to cast a complex transformation spell.

Finally, when Sung-jun finished the incantation and snapped his crossed fingers, the prepared supplies began to change with a blue light.

The “Narami” characters proving it was government reserve rice changed to “Chungju Rice.”

The subtle gray rice bags changed to bright fluorescent-colored rice bags.

The rice bags, with their most noticeable patterns as well as origin and milling dates carefully altered, no longer looked like government reserve rice stolen from a supply warehouse.

Having transformed the government rice supplied to the military unit into ordinary rice, Sung-jun immediately teleported all the remaining combat rations to his hideout.

“Aren’t you going to cast magic on the combat rations?”

“Even if I change their appearance, it would be obvious once you eat them.”

“Hmm…”

Seoa looked around at Sung-jun with an expression that seemed somehow pleased.

Then she touched the rice bag that had completely changed its appearance and said,

“This is really amazing. Can you use abilities like this once you become an Awakened?”

“Just because you become an Awakened doesn’t mean you can freely use abilities like this.”

“Then what about you, oppa?”

“I’m different.”

Sung-jun looked at her with a gentle smile and said,

“Because I’m a mage.”

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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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