The Game of a Legendary Genius Dark Mage - Chapter 290

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Episode 290
290
2.
Heptarion was unmistakably territory of the Riescan Kingdom, and true to its reputation as a knight kingdom, knights were abundant throughout the land.
They were also called Conquerors.
Heptarion itself was territory seized in much the same manner.
The city had been built after driving out the indigenous peoples who originally inhabited it.
Previously, relations between them and the natives had been terribly strained.
But how could the indigenous peoples possibly stand against the knights?
They chose submission and attempted to maintain some form of exchange regardless.
Yet the citizens of the Riescan Kingdom showed them no favor.
Discrimination became rampant in this way.
Still, they did not forcibly drive out those seeking to settle in the city.
After all, every city required cheap labor.
The indigenous peoples possessed far sturdier and more resilient bodies than ordinary folk, so they were frequently conscripted for menial work.
Those with appearances distinctly different from the city dwellers who labored to carry stones for newly constructed buildings.
Their bodies were covered entirely in tattoos, their skin tinted a bronze hue.
Their stature was so considerably larger than ordinary people that they were unmistakable.
A supervisor barked irritably at such a native.
“Tch, do you think anyone else would hire the likes of you?”
…
Despite such harsh discrimination, they silently performed their assigned tasks.
Carrying stones and laboring to dig the earth.
Though they worked three or four times as much as others.
Their wages were less than half of what the others received.
After enduring such brutal work once more that day, the native trudged homeward when suddenly he sensed a presence behind him and turned his head.
Clearly, he could see nothing.
Yet he felt it.
“…Who… are you?”
He spoke in a voice lacking some certainty.
It was no mistake on his part.
Someone appeared abruptly.
The figure who emerged from the darkness wore the armband of the Magic Tower, marking him as a knight.
The native’s eyes widened in surprise upon seeing him.
“Greetings.”
“Ah, greetings to you.”
Though his manner of speech was somewhat halting.
Communication was clearly possible.
The figure who appeared before the native was, naturally, Yoo Sung-hyun.
The native, upon noticing him, immediately grew wary and hid today’s wages behind his back.
Watching the native, Yoo Sung-hyun carefully opened his mouth.
“My name is… Yoo Sung.”
“Yoo Sung?”
He’d almost revealed his original nickname.
But strict knights still patrolled the streets.
Better to use the alias he employed at the Magic Tower.
The native’s wariness eased slightly, and he offered his own name in return.
“Taucan. I am Taucan.”
Though his speech was halting, his eyes gleamed with intelligence—and Yoo Sung-hyun addressed him not as a native, but as Taucan.
“Would you perhaps have a moment to spare?”
“…Ugh.”
His wariness had diminished, certainly.
Yet Taucan remained lost in deliberation, unable to fully trust.
And yet.
“Ah… very well.”
Since Yoo Sung-hyun appeared to be a knight.
He answered as though he had no choice.
He wanted to clear up the misunderstanding.
But he could have simply left after doing so here.
Watching Taucan, Yoo Sung-hyun posed his question.
“Do you perhaps know why the natives have disappeared from the Forest?”
But then.
“Uh, ugh!?”
Taucan startled violently, his body trembling with fear.
Yoo Sung-hyun was taken aback by the reaction.
Did he know something?
With that thought, Yoo Sung-hyun swallowed hard, watching Taucan.
Fortunately, though he quivered, he didn’t flee.
And Taucan looked at Yoo Sung-hyun with even greater caution than before, asking.
“W-why… are you s-searching for us.”
Taucan spoke despite his fear, as though he had to.
At that, Yoo Sung-hyun’s eyes brightened as he replied.
“To discover the culprit and eliminate them.”
Taucan flinched at Yoo Sung-hyun’s words.
Seeing those upright eyes and that expression, Taucan swallowed hard for reasons he couldn’t quite explain.
A fleeting thought crossed his mind—could he trust this one?
He glanced around hastily.
Then, as Yoo Sung-hyun made a casual gesture with his hand.
A faint veil of shadow enveloped the area, muffling all sound.
Though Taucan startled at the display.
Taucan swallowed hard and spoke.
“We… relocated. Far away. Very far. Many settlements vanished… The reason, we do not know. But some of my brothers saw it. The Land of Blood.”
At those words, new text materialized before my eyes.
[Scenario Quest, ‘The Vanished Natives’ is cleared.]
[You obtain rewards.]
[The connected Scenario Quest, ‘Settlement of the Natives’ is generated.]
My eyes brightened at the mention of the natives relocating their settlement.
Taucan continued.
“We, we had to disappear. Something targets us. That is why some came to the city.”
So then.
Several settlements had relocated.
And to hide that fact, quite a few came to the city?
They showed some wit in their approach.
However.
‘If that’s the case, did the demons occupy the original settlement grounds?’
As I entertained that thought.
Taucan provided the answer.
“We, our original homeland, we cannot go. It is blocked.”
Cannot go, he said.
Having gathered information up to that point, I scratched my head somewhat awkwardly.
If they relocated far away.
Would I even be able to find it?
Not that canceling the Scenario Quest would be a problem.
But I doubted the demons would simply leave that place untouched.
I also wanted to know where they had relocated to.
“We who came to the city, we do not know where we relocated to… We wish to return to the Forest…”
Looking at the dejected Taucan, it seemed he genuinely did not know the location.
The Quest itself was indeed to find the relocated settlement.
But if it was quite far from the city, would it even be possible to find?
“How long ago did you relocate?”
“It, it has been some time. Three nights have passed when the moon was full and bright.”
Roughly three full moons meant approximately three months had passed.
It was somewhat unexpected that so little time had elapsed.
I thought perhaps I could find it, but then again, they might have already been attacked by demons.
Since Taucan claimed to know nothing beyond that.
I thanked him and handed over a reasonable sum of money.
Genuinely delighted, Taucan thanked me repeatedly before going his own way.
‘Should I search for the settlement first?’
Finding the settlement might also lead me to the demons…
The problem was that I had no sense of where the settlement might be located.
Perhaps it would be faster to hunt down the Demons instead.
After all, it was certain that Demons frequented the Magic Tower.
If I simply waited there long enough, I would inevitably discover something.
The only question was how long it would take.
‘After work, I should search the settlements in the Forest.’
When I logged in, it might also be good to have my Minions search as well.
After deciding on this plan, just as I was about to log out.
I spotted a woman on the city street, grumbling and venting her frustration.
“Are you insane? Why is he coming to the Magic Tower???”
At the familiar voice, Yoo Sung-hyun turned to look in that direction.
Sure enough, the familiar female NPC Serena was there, complaining about everything.
Why was she so irritated?
Yoo Sung-hyun watched to see what was wrong.
She shouted loud enough for everyone to hear, grumbling all the while.
“No!!! Am I the Sword Saint or the Mana Saint? Why is he coming to the Magic Tower!!!”
“Gasp! C-Chief Mage!!! The knights can hear you!!!”
“Let them hear!!! What’s this about preparing for his arrival in four days??? I’m already swamped with work!!!”
Watching Serena grumble as she walked away, Yoo Sung-hyun’s expression grew rigid.
Someone was coming in four days?
Upon hearing this, Yoo Sung-hyun swallowed hard.
And.
‘This has become troublesome.’
Of all people, the Sword Saint was coming.
Why was he coming?
‘I couldn’t have been discovered.’
If I had been, he would have certainly tried to capture me before coming here in person.
Besides, I didn’t understand why he would seek me out if he could create Mana Beasts himself.
‘Come to think of it.’
From what my sister told me last time.
Mana Beasts had appeared in this region.
And then.
‘The Riescan Kingdom recovered them all, she said?’
They naturally claimed to have taken them themselves.
The fact that they were secretly creating Mana Beasts meant they needed quite a lot of them.
Was his visit this time also to recover Mana Beasts?
As I pondered this, I suddenly recalled my battle with the Sword Saint.
The Sword Saint who had said he would take all the Mana Beasts I possessed.
‘Perhaps….’
He might be thinking I would come here.
Or perhaps he was trying to change the location of the Demons.
My mind grew cluttered with too many possibilities.
I wondered if I should hide my body, but a sense of urgency crept in.
‘I must eliminate the Demonic Beings before then.’
I don’t know what the Sword Saint intends to do.
But if I dispose of the Demonic Beings before that happens, the Sword Saint won’t be able to achieve his goals regardless.
That’s why I decided I had to find and eliminate the Demonic Beings as quickly as possible within that timeframe.
I couldn’t stand to watch the Sword Saint succeed.
‘Let’s go.’
The Alley of Blood where I disappeared.
Someone arrived at that location moments after I vanished.
A massive figure with bronze-tinted skin covered entirely in tattoos.
Taucan gazed at the spot where I had been before disappearing.
Then he concealed himself once more and vanished into the shadows.
3.
The dilapidated Slum District of Heptarion.
Deep within it, in a section that required considerable effort to reach, a gathering of massive figures sat assembled.
Beings with bronze skin and bodies covered in tattoos.
Whether female or male, they were all imposingly large and densely tattooed.
In the city, they were called natives and faced discrimination.
Yet their eyes alone revealed they were far from contemptible.
Among them.
An old woman gripping a staff carved from ancient wood regarded the man standing before her and asked.
“So you conveyed information about us?”
“…Yes.”
“Tsk tsk tsk, well done, Taucan. Truth concealing falsehood is always the hardest deception to uncover.”
At her words, Taucan bowed his head.
The man was none other than Taucan, who had shared information about the natives with me.
The falsehood hidden within the truth the old woman spoke of.
Within the truth that the settlement had relocated.
He had woven in the falsehood that they had gone far, which was why I fell for it.
But it wasn’t malice that drove the deception.
They had endured so much already.
It was unavoidable to protect themselves.
However.
“Tsk tsk tsk, yet there was no need to deceive the newly emerged lord of this city.”
“Huh!?”
At those words, Taucan’s body trembled in shock.
A lord.
A magnificent being even the natives knew of.
That’s why he couldn’t help but be astonished.
So the person I had met was a lord.
Though I must admit, he did seem impressive.
Taucan trembled at this revelation.
The Old Woman NPC spoke again.
“Should he come seeking us once more, guide him to me.”
“Yes, understood. I shall bring the lord who will save us.”
“Indeed. Whether he will save us remains uncertain, but surely he can strike down those wretched things, can he not?”
With those words, the Old Woman NPC chuckled softly to herself, muttering.
Then she gazed up at the ceiling of the ramshackle wooden hut, watching the stars that peeked through and murmured.
“We too do not have much time left. So the ancestors speak.”
At the Old Woman NPC’s sorrowful words, Taucan replied.
“I shall do as the Grand Shaman commands. For the spirits of our ancestors.”

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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