The Mage’s Nemesis Has Reincarnated - Chapter 42

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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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The Natural Enemy of Mages Has Been Reincarnated – Episode 42
The man’s name was Corel Shadow.
He was one of the spies planted by the Third Prince within the Albitz Kingdom.
“How many spies have infiltrated the kingdom?”
“I… I don’t know. Ugh, aaahhh!”
As I pressed down on his wound, a desperate cry escaped Corel’s lips.
“I’m telling the truth! We never shared that kind of information with each other!”
‘So they’re operating as a cell network to ensure no one can be traced back to the others?’
That made sense.
“Baluduk is behind this, isn’t he?”
“Th-that is… yes.”
Corel, who had been trying to deny it, seemed to sense the futility and suddenly changed his answer.
[The target you are observing is currently speaking the truth.]
“What orders did you receive from him?”
“To capture Count Bryant and use his daughter like a puppet. The goal was to have her admitted to the Royal Court Mage Order and lure out the real power brokers within.”
“And what were you planning to do after luring them out?”
“Disguise myself as a unit member using a magical transformation scroll.”
‘In other words, they were planning to impersonate me?’
The basic plan was to leave the real me locked away in prison while this scum infiltrated in my place with a changed face.
The thought of this vermin attempting to assume my identity sent chills down my spine.
“What were you planning to do while impersonating me?”
“After that, I don’t know. That’s all the instruction I received… I’m serious! I really am!”
I lowered my fist.
His reflexive flinching showed that etiquette training had certainly been drilled into him.
“So your only order was to wait while disguised as me?”
“Y-yes!”
“Does Baluduk know that you’ve taken Mary as a hostage?”
“Probably. If my superior reported it to him.”
“How do you contact Baluduk? If you have a communication device, hand it over.”
“…I don’t have one. I act under Baluduk’s orders, but I’ve never met him face to face. I’ve never communicated with him directly either.”
“Then how do you stay in contact?”
“There’s a Contact Agent in the middle. I’ve heard those guys communicating with Baluduk.”
“Those guys? So there’s more than one Contact Agent?”
Corel nodded.
Blood trickled from his nose, so I gestured to Mary.
“Mary. Heal this bastard for now.”
“Ah, yes…”
Though her expression remained uneasy, Mary did as instructed.
Once his wounds had healed somewhat, a sense of calm settled over Corel’s face.
But only briefly.
I couldn’t help but flinch at the demonic intensity burning in Zeke’s gaze.
“Where is this kid’s father? The real Count Bryant?”
“That… I don’t know.”
“You’re the one who took him!”
When Mary screamed, Corel Shadow looked aggrieved.
“I merely handed him over to the Contact Agent. I don’t know where he is.”
“Do you have any means of contacting this Contact Agent you mentioned?”
“That… that’s not something I can do on my own. They initiate contact from their end…”
“This bastard is nothing but a low-level grunt? He’s completely useless.”
“…”
Corel Shadow fell silent at my complaint.
I’d finally captured a spy, but there was precious little information to extract.
‘In the end, I need to meet the Contact Agent…’
The direct connection to Baluduk lies with the Contact Agent.
No matter how many there are, capturing them is the only way to find any trace of Baluduk.
“Does the Contact Agent also provide the shape-shifting scrolls?”
“Yes.”
“They give you orders and handle communication with Baluduk as well?”
“…Y-yes, that’s right.”
Sensing something ominous, Corel Shadow studied my expression carefully.
“Do you have any spare shape-shifting scrolls left?”
“Ah, no. I don’t have any…”
[The target you are currently observing is speaking the truth.]
Seeing the message, I couldn’t help but look disappointed.
“Unfortunate. If you had one, I’d kill you right here and impersonate you immediately.”
“…”
For once, Corel Shadow was grateful the scroll didn’t exist.
“How do you contact the Contact Agent?”
“…I have it here.”
Corel Shadow handed over the communication device without hesitation.
I tapped it three times, but it didn’t respond.
‘As I thought. It’s a receive-only communication device?’
To meet the Contact Agent, I had no choice but to wait for them to reach out.
‘This is frustrating. I need the Contact Agent to get more leads, but I don’t even know when they’ll contact.’
As I furrowed my brow, an anxious Corel Shadow spoke, hoping to be of some use.
“…Since the shape-shifting scrolls have run out, the Contact Agent should reach out soon.”
“You don’t know the Contact Agent’s name? Their scale of operations?”
“…I don’t.”
There was nothing more to extract from this man called Corel Shadow.
‘Since I know that, he must be reading my expression too.’
The moment my usefulness expires, Corel Shadow is a dead man.
Knowing that, he watches my every move like a dog desperate for a bathroom break.
That was when it happened.
The communication crystal I held suddenly gleamed with light.
A message had arrived from the Contact Agent at precisely the right moment.
“Take it.”
“Huh? Y-yes?”
Corel Shadow accepted the communication crystal I offered without thinking.
“Take it and tell them the scroll has been delivered—arrange a meeting now. If you try anything foolish, you know what happens… don’t you?”
“Y-yes, I understand.”
Corel Shadow swallowed hard before accepting the call.
“Yes?”
-Corel, anything unusual?
Corel Shadow glanced at me before responding in a casual tone.
“Nothing at all. What could possibly be unusual?”
-How far has the operation progressed?
“I’ve captured Zeke McLafflin using Mary.”
-So you’re ready to move to the next phase.
“That’s correct.”
-Well done. Baluduk will be pleased to hear this.
“Th-thank you. Actually, the scroll was just delivered, and…”
-I was about to mention that. I also planned to provide the items needed for the next phase.
“Items…?”
-The meeting point is the tavern where we met before. Prepare yourself and come now.
“Understood.”
With those words, the light of the communication crystal faded.
Only then did Mary breathe, and Corel Shadow turned to look at me.
“What do we do now?”
“What do you mean ‘what’?”
A smile played at the corners of my mouth.
“We meet with the Contact Agent.”

* * *
A tavern three hours’ distance from the Bryant Estate.
[Moonlight Tavern]
Corel Shadow gazed quietly up at the tavern’s sign, swallowing hard.
‘Damn it. I’m going to die, truly.’
From three hours ago until now, the tension had been so unbearable that I hadn’t even been able to relieve myself.
On top of that, my stomach churned so violently I thought I might lose my mind.
And no wonder—I was being watched by Zeke McLafflin.
How could my heart possibly be at ease?
‘He’s definitely watching me from somewhere using Invisibility. I’m certain of it.’
He’d released me to meet the Contact Agent as usual, but that demon would never simply let me go like this.
‘He’s probably planning to use me to meet the Contact Agent.’
And once I met the Contact Agent, I would become unnecessary.
He’d already extracted every scrap of information from me anyway.
‘Perhaps this place will become my grave….’
With that thought, the tavern’s entrance felt like the gaping maw of a serpent.
My life had been a disaster, but I couldn’t die like this.
I needed to seek help.
‘This is the only way I can survive.’
Pulling the hood down firmly over my head, Corel Shadow pushed open the tavern door.
Ding—
As I stepped inside, the sparse interior of the tavern came into view.
“Welcome.”
A man who appeared to be the owner greeted me, but I knew the truth.
That man posing as the owner was actually the Contact Agent.
“I am Corel Shadow.”
As I removed my hood and spoke, the owner tilted his head in confusion.
“Ah, yes. What brings you here?”
“I was told there was something for me.”
“Something, you say? What exactly….”
“Mary. Zeke. Royal Palace.”
At those words—the crux of the operation—the owner’s eyes shifted in an instant.
He dropped the act and spoke in a low voice.
“Please wait a moment.”
The owner disappeared into the kitchen, then returned moments later with someone.
It was a man dressed in a black robe.
“Corel. You arrived right on time.”
From the sound of his voice, this was undoubtedly the man I’d contacted through the communication crystal earlier.
The man immediately thrust a long box toward me.
“Here are the scrolls I promised. And this is the item I mentioned.”
The additional items were packed separately in a small box.
“May I open it?”
“Not yet.”
“What exactly is this next operation…?”
“You’ll learn when the time comes. For now, just keep those items safe. They’re precious things we’ll need for the operation.”
“Understood.”
With those words, Corel Shadow carefully gathered both boxes and pulled his hood over his head.
Yet he hesitated before taking his leave.
The man watching him furrowed his brow.
“What are you doing? Go.”
“P-please, I need your help with something.”
“What are you talking about? That’s sudden.”
“W-we’ve been discovered.”
“What?”
“Our operation has been discovered… by that bastard Zeke McLafflin.”
That was when it happened.
Crash!
“I knew it would come to this.”
A boy suddenly burst through the door.
None other than Zeke McLafflin.
“Couldn’t resist running your mouth to someone else?”
“I-it’s him! This bastard is Zeke McLafflin!”
The man, glancing back and forth between the suddenly arrived Zeke McLafflin and Corel Shadow, twisted his face in fury.
“This idiot brought a tail with him?”
Shing!
The man drew a dagger from his waist and thrust it at Corel Shadow without warning.
“Gack!”
Corel Shadow, his throat pierced, collapsed to the ground like a puppet with its strings cut.
Corel Shadow’s death was instantaneous.
The man, gripping the dagger stained with blood, fixed Zeke McLafflin with a cold stare.
“Kill that bastard too.”
“Yes.”
The one who appeared to be the Tavern Owner moved at that brutal command.
His eyes gleamed with killing intent—the gaze of someone who had taken many lives.
“Going to fight?”
Whoosh—
The Tavern Owner vanished silently like smoke.
He had used invisibility magic.
“A mage, then?”
Zeke McLafflin watched with an envious gaze.
He lacked the finesse to pull off such tricks himself.
But.
“Lucky for me. You’re a mage.”
Zeke McLafflin’s lips curled upward with satisfaction.
“All mages are worthless anyway.”
He immediately absorbed the surrounding mana.
“…!”
The invisibility shattered by force.
While the man panicked, Zeke McLafflin lunged forward like lightning.
Crack!
The Tavern Owner’s head snapped back from the kick, his body flying with a sickening sound.
He died instantly, unable even to scream.
“One down.”
The man felt something sinister in Zeke McLafflin’s gaze and began drawing mana together.
Or rather, he tried to.
‘My, my mana… it’s scattering?’
The moment he attempted to gather it, it vanished.
Dispersed by some unknown external force.
Thinking it might be a mistake, he tried again, but the result was identical.
No matter what method he employed, he could not cast magic.
By the time Zeke McLafflin closed the distance, he could do nothing.
Not even incantations using the demonic tongue.
Thud!
His front teeth scattered like corn kernels from a single punch.
“So you’re the Contact Agent? Finally we meet.”
“Ugh, you, you bastard… Argh!”
Another blow sent him crashing down with a thunderous sound.
Power that bore no resemblance to what a mage should possess.
Compounded by his sudden inability to cast magic, the man finally understood.
He could never defeat the opponent before him.
The moment that realization crystallized.
“I have nothing to tell the likes of you.”
The man’s demeanor shifted abruptly to serene detachment, and he shut his eyes.
That instant.
Blood poured from the man’s mouth in a torrent.
Thump.
Endless blood streamed from the fallen man’s body.
It was not a natural death.
“This bastard… just died suddenly?”
Zeke McLafflin stood bewildered—the man had died before he could even properly interrogate him.
‘Wait. Gregor died the same way in the Royal Prison, didn’t he?’
The method of suicide was identical to Gregor’s.
Apparently, the same binding curse had been placed on him.
‘Damn it. I finally meet the Contact Agent, and now this? Without clues….’
I had planned to extract information through torture, but they were all dead.
An awkward situation for me.
All that remained were the two boxes the man had handed to Corel Shadow.
‘One is a shape-shifting scroll. The other is….’
Opening the lid of the small box, I found something that resembled a vial inside.
It contained a sloshing liquid, but I couldn’t tell what it was just by looking.
‘I’ll keep these for now.’
I opened a pocket dimension and secured the items.
Then I examined the corpses for any other clues….
‘Hm? This robe is….’
Now that I looked closely, the man was wearing a familiar robe.
‘A black robe… Could it be the Black Moon?’
The emerging assassination organization, Black Moon.
Baluduk was behind that organization.

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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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