The Game of a Legendary Genius Dark Mage - Chapter 305

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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 305
305
I followed the Boy deeper into the wilderness.
The Forest grew progressively denser as we ventured forward.
Then.
“Shh.”
He gestured silently for me to follow without sound.
I’d been trailing behind the Boy ever since we left the Village entrance, moving at a measured pace.
How much further could it possibly be?
‘Wouldn’t it be faster if I just carried him and ran?’
After trudging along at such a leisurely speed that I felt genuine frustration building within me.
The Boy pointed toward one direction.
A location so distant it would be invisible to ordinary eyes.
But for me, it was simple to discern. I looked toward where he indicated.
I could see numerous horses tethered there, and figures dressed in tattered, rough clothing.
‘Hmm.’
Anyone would recognize them as bandits at a glance.
I stroked my chin as I observed them.
Was this quest about capturing a bandit gang?
‘That’s rather trivial for a Unique quest.’
It didn’t seem particularly difficult.
Besides, merely hiring mercenaries hardly constitutes what I’d call a base, does it?
As I was contemplating this.
The Boy gestured for me to return with him.
We weren’t going to engage them now?
It was somewhat peculiar.
But a mercenary follows the client’s instructions, doesn’t he?
So I heeded the Boy’s signal and withdrew from the position as instructed.
Once we’d put sufficient distance between ourselves and the location.
I spoke to the Boy.
“So I just need to eliminate those bandits?”
“Huh? No, of course not. If that were all, I wouldn’t have offered 10,000 Gold.”
“Hmm?”
He had a point there.
They wouldn’t offer 10,000 Gold just for dealing with a bandit group.
For a moment, I thought the Boy was naive about such matters.
So what was his intention?
Curious, I turned to look at him.
The Boy met my gaze and spoke.
“They’re not the real problem.”
“…What?”
“Those guys are just the vanguard. Have you heard of the notorious bandit gang in these parts called the Savage Wolves?”
Yoo Sung-hyun was about to say he hadn’t when—
[Information: The Savage Wolves are a bandit gang operating in this region, with numbers reportedly exceeding a thousand. While exact figures are unknown, it’s widely known they’re not just a single gang.]
Upon reading that information window,
Yoo Sung-hyun nodded immediately.
“So those are the Savage Wolves.”
“Yes, as you’ve now heard. It’s said that when one of their groups is dealt with, they abandon everything—money and all—and come seeking vengeance for their brothers.”
“Hmm.”
“That’s why we can’t eliminate them.”
The boy certainly had a point.
Killing those bandits would be easy enough.
They appeared to be quite skilled, after all.
But to me, it seemed almost trivial.
However, making them simply retreat would be several times more difficult than eliminating them.
And they had to ensure these bandits never returned here.
If that were even possible.
‘That’s quite the resourcefulness from the boy.’
I nodded in understanding.
As I grasped the situation,
the boy spoke to me.
“Even though you seem strong, you probably can’t face the entire Savage Wolves. And even if you could, I don’t have nearly enough money to pay for that.”
A remarkably rational child.
Well, since this was a Quest, I could theoretically eliminate all the Savage Wolves myself.
But I had no idea how things might unfold.
It seemed better to listen to what the boy had to say.
I focused on his words.
The boy grinned widely.
“You’re really a good person, aren’t you?”
“Out of nowhere?”
I tilted my head at his sudden praise.
The boy smiled and continued.
“Most adults don’t seriously listen to the words of a small child like me, even when they’ve been paid for a request.”
“Hmm, is that so?”
I suppose that could be the case.
They might dismiss a child’s words as mere childish prattle.
Above all,
“Even when I showed you the money, you seemed more interested than greedy.”
“Well, that could be true.”
“Anyway! We need to send them away from here!”
“Do you have a way?”
“Of course! If I didn’t, I wouldn’t have hired you in the first place, would I?”
Well then, let me hear this method of yours.
What could possibly be the way to deal with those bandits?
Yoo Sung-hyun looked at the Boy with evident curiosity.
The Boy chuckled and spoke.
After hearing the Boy’s explanation, Yoo Sung-hyun’s expression grew noticeably serious.
This method would certainly work.
The bandits wouldn’t dare show their faces around this Village again.
“This might actually be viable?”
“Yes! I’ll need your help with that part.”
“Agreed.”
Moreover, it was a task perfectly suited to Yoo Sung-hyun.
Shall we begin then?
6.
The ones ruling this region could truly be called villains.
The Savage Wolves.
While most bandits merely extorted money, food, and goods, the Savage Wolves were notorious for razing entire villages to the ground if things didn’t go their way.
And their numbers exceeded a thousand.
Even several lords found it difficult to mount a proper subjugation.
Direct intervention was awkward.
Yet leaving them alone was troublesome.
Perhaps that’s why.
They knew the line well—after plundering one territory a few times.
They would immediately move to another.
Once a territory had already suffered losses, pursuing them would only incur greater damage, so many simply left them alone.
The common folk suffered needlessly.
But the Savage Wolves cared not at all.
“Kahahaha!!!”
“Soon we’ll plunder all the villages around here, eh?”
“The boss is truly brilliant!”
“If we split up like this, raid different villages, and leave the territory, nobody will ever chase us!!!”
“That’s right! Kahahaha!!!”
Laughing boisterously and drinking wine, the men chattered away like madmen.
Most bandit gangs would exercise caution before a raid.
These ones didn’t care in the slightest.
They believed without doubt that they could never lose.
So while they all laughed with such abandon.
Whiiiine——!
Splurt, spluttering sounds.
Neeeeiiiighhh——!!
As the horses whinnied loudly, the bandits’ attention snapped toward the sound.
The tethered horses had suddenly begun to cry out in distress.
What was happening?
Though they called themselves bandits, they cared for their horses meticulously and trained them almost like military steeds.
The Savage Wolves’ horses were far superior to ordinary mounts.
They shouldn’t have startled at such a minor commotion.
The bandits exchanged puzzled glances at the animals’ unusual panic.
“Is something wrong?”
“Hey, youngest! Go check it out.”
“Ugh, when will I finally stop being the rookie….”
“What? We won’t be recruiting new members for a while, so quit complaining and get moving!”
Grumbling, the youngest made his way toward where the horses were tied.
However.
There was nothing particularly unusual to see.
Only.
Whoooooosh.
Keeheeheeheehee.
“…???”
An eerie wind sound.
The atmosphere felt decidedly ominous.
But he was no bandit to be frightened by such trifles.
He merely tilted his head in confusion.
Did the wind always sound like this?
He sensed something was amiss.
Yet his instincts weren’t sharp enough to grasp what it was, so he simply returned.
“Did you find anything?”
When the youngest returned.
The party leader of the bandit group asked what the matter was.
The youngest scratched his head as he spoke.
“The wind sounds a bit eerie, but there’s nothing there.”
“The wind sounds? What do you mean?”
“Like some kind of ghostly wailing….”
In the very moment the youngest was saying this.
Keeheeheeheehee——.
An ominous sound like a woman’s sinister laughter carried on the wind.
And this time, it came from all directions.
The atmosphere had grown decidedly unsettling.
Yet the bandits paid it no mind.
They simply dismissed it as wind and moved on.
However, the party leader’s brow furrowed at the strange sound.
“I don’t think the wind sounded like that until just a moment ago?”
“Until just now, it was just the sound of wind, right?”
“Hmm, could it be because night has fallen?”
“Kahahaha!!! Are you saying some ghost appeared or something?”
“Kehehehe, there’s no way something like that exists!!!”
Shouting thus, the bandits laughed and made a commotion, raising their cups for a toast and attempting to resume their conversation.
But then.
Keeheeheeheehee——!
That eerie ghostly laughter—or rather, the wind sound resembling it—grew louder.
The wind sound intensified steadily.
As it did, even the bandits who had paid it no mind at first began to furrow their brows irritably.
“Damn it! It’s ruining the mood.”
“What kind of sound is that?”
“Pehehehe, if it’s ruined, shouldn’t it sound like men’s voices?”
“Kehehehe, you got that right.”
These were men who spoke crude jests without hesitation.
Yet among them, I sensed the atmosphere growing subtly strange.
“…Was this place always this dark?”
“Huh? There was a moon shining just a moment ago…?”
The full moon that had been shining brightly until just now had vanished.
Moreover, the sky seemed to permit no light whatsoever, with only an ominous darkness blanketing everything.
And amid all this.
Keeheeheeheehee——!
Only the eerie wind sound circled around them.
“….”
“…Ahem.”
“….”
“Huh.”
All the bandits’ voices fell silent.
As if something were indeed present.
The most timid among them trembled and spoke.
“C-could this place be cursed?”
“Cursed?”
“…Ahem.”
“A curse….”
A cursed land.
Since such places actually existed, no one could refute it outright.
They wanted to counter that if this place were like that, how could the villagers even live here.
But the villagers never ventured outside at night.
Could it be that he’d somehow known about this phenomenon beforehand?
That worry gnawed at me.
The bandits hadn’t said anything definitive about it.
They were swallowing hard, adapting to the darkness, fearing this truly was a cursed land.
The surroundings that had been gradually darkening were now pitch black, making it impossible to see even an inch ahead.
But since the bandits were accustomed to darkness,
they could adapt to it quickly enough.
Then, at that moment.
Several lights began appearing in the Forest.
A bluish, eerie glow.
As the lights drifting through the air multiplied one by one,
everyone was swallowing hard.
Could it really be cursed?
Even as that thought crossed their minds,
those bluish lights gradually turned crimson,
and the moon that had vanished moments ago rose once more.
But it was a Red Moon—utterly different from the one that had been there before.
“L-leader. Sh-shouldn’t we tell the boss and g-go somewhere else instead?”
“You damn coward!!! Are you saying we should j-just retreat!?”
The leader shouted thus,
but his own voice trembled slightly, revealing that he too wanted to flee.
And beyond that timid wretch, the others seemed to share the same thought.
All of them wanted nothing more than to escape.
In that tense situation,
something fell from the sky.
Thud.
One of the bandits’ horses had plummeted from above,
and the moment it crashed to the ground, the horse’s body convulsed violently.
Without a head.
Blood sprayed forth as the horse’s body was torn apart in an instant, flesh ripped away as if by teeth marks.
“…!!!”
“…!!!”
“!!!!!!”
The startled bandits, without exception, mounted their horses and fled the spot.
They were certain this place was cursed.
But as they fled in panic, they failed to notice something.
One horse had died,
yet somehow all of them were able to ride.
“D-don’t attack that Village!!!”
“W-we must tell the boss!!!”
The Boy and Yoo Sung-hyun emerged from their hiding spot, stifling their laughter as they watched the bandits scramble away in panic.
“That was quite effective.”
“Indeed it was.”

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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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