The Mage’s Nemesis Has Reincarnated - Chapter 45

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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 45
What in the world had just happened?
The leader of Black Moon had worn a different expression mere moments ago.
Before the agony surged up from below.
“Guh, guuuuaaaaaahhhhh-!!!”
It was neither a scream nor a wail.
Merely a primal howl.
The desperate cry of a man stripped of his manhood.
‘Ah… I feel oddly sorry about this.’
Who could fail to pity Mallock Pierce, clutching his ruptured groin and gasping for breath?
Though I’d deliberately aimed for it, I couldn’t shake an inexplicable sense of guilt for what I’d done.
“Hey, are you… are you okay…?”
“Guuuhhh… ugh…”
‘I feel bad even asking if he’s okay.’
Even if I had asked, Mallock Pierce had no breath to answer.
At least he hadn’t died from the vital point being destroyed—that was something.
“Huff, huff.”
Judging by his labored breathing, he’d regained some composure.
I offered him what could hardly be called consolation.
“It’s fine. You’ll be fine. Men can live without that, you know.”
“You demon! Spouting nonsense like it’s not even yours…!”
“But at least you’re not dead, right? That’s something to be grateful for.”
“Just kill me, you devil! Ugh…!”
“Well, anyway, rest for a moment. I’ll give you some anesthesia.”
Under the pretense of anesthesia, I deployed the Paralyze skill I’d absorbed earlier.
‘Release.’
Mallock Pierce’s trembling body went rigid.
Simultaneously, the completion message I’d been waiting for appeared.
[Subdued the Leader of Black Moon!]
[Main Quest cleared!]
[You have acquired a new basic skill as a reward.]
[Basic Skill: Blessing of Light]
-Effect: Completely heals the target’s wounds and status abnormalities. After healing, grants immunity to all status abnormalities for 30 minutes.
-Special Note: 30-minute cooldown after activation.
‘I’ve obtained Blessing of Light!’
A skill every healer yearned for had fallen into my hands.
‘I never intended to become a healer, but having it is better than not.’
The more skills one possessed, the better.
Who would refuse a unique skill that only Awakened ones could normally receive as a quest reward?
Even welcoming it with both hands wouldn’t be excessive.
Subduing the leader of the assassins was hardly a difficult task for me.
“Well, this bastard passed out?”
I thought he’d remain paralyzed, but by the time I looked, his eyes had rolled back and he’d lost consciousness.
‘Though honestly, it’s strange he didn’t pass out with that wound.’
It would be better for him this way.
The shock must have been that overwhelming.
Both physically and mentally.
Still, I had no intention of letting him sleep peacefully.
Slap—! Slap—!
“Hey. I had questions for you. What am I supposed to do if you just fall asleep?”
I tried to wake him by patting his cheeks, but whether due to the paralysis magic or something else, he didn’t stir at all.
Or perhaps he simply didn’t want to wake?
Dreams would be sweeter than this reality.
‘What do I do? He won’t wake up?’
Should I just haul him over my shoulder and hand him to my father at the Royal Palace?
That alone would resolve most of the problems.
‘But I’ve already involved myself far too deeply to back out now.’
Since I’ve come this far, I need to extract every scrap of information from him.
There’s no guarantee my father would obtain the information if I simply handed him over.
‘Let me search this place before he wakes up.’
I shifted my gaze to the table where the leader had been sitting and rifled through the drawers.
Inside were quite a few communication devices, but most of them weren’t functional.
The signs of deliberate sabotage were evident.
‘He probably erased any traces of Baluduk as well.’
I sighed and glanced around, searching for other evidence.
Then my gaze fixed on the floor.
I’d discovered a wooden plank with a ring attached to it.
Suspecting what it might be, I approached and pulled the ring upward.
Creeeeak—
‘Just as I thought. There’s a secret passage leading underground.’
I glanced back to confirm the assassination unit leader hadn’t awakened, then descended the stairs.
As I creaked my way down, a narrow, dark underground chamber came into view.
A yellowish light flickered at the far end—a torch burning there, it seemed.
I walked toward the end of the chamber with curious eyes.
Then I encountered someone I hadn’t expected.
“W-who are you?”
A person was imprisoned behind iron bars.
A middle-aged man with brown hair, appearing to be in his forties.
‘Could it be…?’
I spoke the name that came to mind.
“Count Louis Bryant?”
“Y-yes, but who are you?”
“I’m Zeke McLafflin, a member of the McLafflin Family. Let me free you first.”
After introducing myself, I retrieved the key hanging on the wall.
There was no doubt that this man was Count Louis Bryant.
He had emerged from genuine confinement, and there were no traces of shapeshifting magic upon him.
Click—!
Even as I opened the door, Count Bryant simply stood there in a daze, showing no inclination to leave.
It seemed he could scarcely believe escape could come so easily.
“Won’t you come out?”
“Ah, yes… yes, I should leave.”
As the Count emerged from the iron bars, he cast sidelong glances at me.
He had never imagined he would escape this place with the aid of a boy barely fifteen years old.
Perhaps that’s why suspicion flickered in his eyes as well.
“The McLafflin Family… isn’t that one of the three Prestigious Magic Families spoken of in Decan…? *cough*!”
“Yes, it is. But are you injured somewhere?”
“Ah, no, it’s nothing… I haven’t had a drop of water in days, that’s all. Thank you for your concern. But tell me—did the McLafflin Family send you to rescue me? How did you find this place? And wasn’t there someone guarding above? How did you even manage to enter here…?”
“You have many questions, but let’s take this slowly and discuss it once we’re outside.”
“Ah, very well.”
I led the Count up to the surface.
As Count Louis emerged into daylight for the first time in days, he squinted against the brightness.
A moment later, as his eyes adjusted, his pupils gradually widened.
“Th-that person!”
“This is the one who imprisoned you, correct?”
When I pointed at the assassination unit’s leader, the Count nodded frantically.
“Y-yes! That’s him! I don’t know who he is, but that’s definitely him!”
‘It seems Count Louis didn’t know this man’s identity either.’
Of course—a leader of an assassination unit wouldn’t carelessly divulge unnecessary information to a hostage.
‘Then in the end, I’ll need to wake him and extract information…’
Whether dead or alive, he simply wouldn’t wake.
‘Could he actually be dead?’
When I nudged him with my foot, the Count watched with an expression of alarm.
In his eyes, I must have looked like a mouse daring to touch the whiskers of a sleeping lion.
“Why… why are you doing that? Why try to wake him? More importantly, where is the Duke of the McLafflin Family? Did he truly come to rescue me…?”
“There’s no one else here but me.”
“What?”
“Ah, there is one more person. It should be time for them to arrive…”
As I muttered something incomprehensible, the Count couldn’t help but be startled by the person entering the cabin.
“M-Mary!”
“Dad!”
The mother and daughter embraced each other without hesitation, their arms intertwining in a moment of profound reunion.
A touching scene of mother and daughter meeting again after so long.
Though tears glistened in both their eyes, there was no time for prolonged sentiment.
“I’ll explain everything to you later, but first, let me wake this bastard up.”
With those words, I couldn’t wait any longer and struck Mallock Pierce in the groin.
Thwack!
“Ugh, gaaahhh!”
“Wake up. How long do you plan to sleep? Come on!”
Jolted awake from his sweet slumber, Mallock Pierce glared up at me with eyes filled with resentment.
His gaze was a turbulent mixture of fear, resentment, and hatred.
“Y-yes… How dare you…!”
“How dare I what? You took that beating and still don’t understand the situation? Or have you decided you have nothing left to lose?”
“Tch…”
Mallock Pierce submitted to my intimidation, but it was Mary’s father who truly seemed lost in confusion.
“M-Mary. What is happening here? Why can’t that man even move against a young noble…?”
“The young master of the McLafflin Family is far stronger than he appears. Not only did he rescue me, but he also tracked down this location and discovered it himself.”
“He rescued you…?”
If that were true, then House of Bryant owed this young man an enormous debt of gratitude.
He was already their savior for rescuing Count Bryant himself.
The Count’s expression shifted as he studied me with new eyes.
This ruffian-like boy who was now intimidating the man before him.
“Your name.”
“…”
Thwack!
“Your name, you bastard!”
“…M-Mallock Pierce.”
Though struck on the back of his head, Mallock Pierce maintained a docile demeanor despite his wounded pride.
While he resented his current condition, he couldn’t deny the overwhelming difference in power he felt.
“That communication device over there. Did you destroy it?”
“Y-yes, I did.”
“And the communication device you didn’t destroy? Who is it connected to?”
“The 1st Commander through the 4th Commander. The action commanders. I don’t know what’s become of them now, but…”
“I know. They’re all corpses rotting away by now.”
“So it was you after all…!”
“Who told you to speak? Answer only when asked!”
As I raised my arm, Mallock Pierce flinched reflexively.
“You know Baluduk, don’t you?”
“…”
“I can see it in your eyes. Baluduk is backing you, isn’t he? Among the communication devices you destroyed, there’s one connected to him.”
Mallock Pierce remained silent.
He had been speaking freely until now, but fell silent at the mention of Baluduk?
“The way you shut your mouth tells me you know him.”
“No. I don’t know him at all. I’ve never contacted him personally.”
He tried to play it cool, but there was no way his deception would work on Zeke.
[The target you are currently observing is speaking ‘falsehoods’.]
“Okay. Then who taught you dark magic? Was it Baluduk?”
“I already told you I don’t know him. How could I learn from someone I don’t even know?”
[The target you are currently observing is speaking ‘falsehoods’.]
Zeke smiled faintly.
Though he appeared uncooperative, his answers inadvertently provided assistance despite his intentions.
“What’s your objective? What were you planning to do with this poison?”
As Zeke shook the poison bottle before his eyes, Mallock Pierce closed his eyes and adopted an indifferent demeanor.
“Won’t you talk?”
“There’s no point asking me.”
“You were planning to assassinate someone, weren’t you? Someone in the Royal Palace.”
“Who knows.”
“Drawing House of Bryant into this and infiltrating using my face—it was all to assassinate someone in the Royal Palace, wasn’t it?”
“….”
Mallock Pierce either remained silent or evaded the question.
It was Zeke who felt frustrated.
‘If he’d just say something back, I could determine what’s true and what isn’t. But he won’t cooperate.’
What good was an ability like this?
When he wouldn’t give me a chance to use it.
“Won’t you speak? Want another beating?”
“Do as you wish. I have nothing left to lose.”
Even threatening him with fists yielded no useful information.
He looked like someone who had transcended worldly concerns.
‘What do I do? It seems persuasion won’t work at this point.’
Just as Zeke was contemplating this, a coughing sound came from behind.
“Ah, Father, are you alright?”
“Ah, yes, I’m fine. Don’t worry.”
“What’s wrong? You were coughing earlier too.”
At Zeke’s question, Mary’s expression grew sorrowful.
“Father has a chronic illness….”
“A chronic illness? Wasn’t that a lie?”
“The part about him not having long to live was a lie… but the chronic illness was real.”
[The target you are currently observing is speaking ‘truth’.]
When she had been coaxed into the House of Bryant, Mary had lied.
That she was desperately seeking someone to marry for her ailing father’s sake.
‘So the chronic illness she mentioned back then was actually real?’
Zeke recalled Mary’s story as he gazed at Count Bryant.
The intermittent coughing suggested something was wrong with his lungs.
‘Hmm. Then…?’
An idea suddenly struck him.
Zeke’s gaze fell upon Mallock Pierce, who stood with his jaw clenched stubbornly.
“Listen. I have a proposal for you.”
“…?”
“Tell me everything you know, and I promise I’ll fix what’s broken.”
“What?”
Mallock Pierce glanced briefly at his own groin before letting out a snort of laughter.
The expression of someone who had just heard the most absurd nonsense.
“Stop spouting nonsense. Are you trying to give me a disease and then cure it? How could someone like you fix me? Are you saying you’ve become a saint of the Holy Empire? Say something that makes sense.”
“Whether it makes sense or not, judge for yourself after seeing this.”
Zeke suddenly brought his hand toward Count Bryant.
And he activated the skill he had recently learned.
‘Blessing of Light.’
The moment his intent to heal and the incantation merged, a warm, luminous energy emanated from his palm.
It gently enveloped Count Bryant’s body.
“Prince Zeke? What are you doing…?”
“Huh?”
The one who was truly astonished was none other than Count Bryant himself.
The tightness in his chest that had plagued him moments before suddenly eased away.
The coughing that had accompanied his pain ceased entirely.
“Did… did this actually work? What did you just do to me?”
“I’ve healed your ailment, Count Bryant.”
“What? Is that… is that truly the case?!”
“It’s true, Prince Zeke? My father’s chronic illness has persisted for ten years. Even the priests couldn’t cure it.”
“It’s true. I happen to possess rather exceptional healing abilities.”
Zeke had cured an illness that even the priests could not treat.
Zeke’s eyes, gleaming with a faint smile, turned toward Mallock Pierce.
“Well? Still won’t believe me?”
“…”
In Mallock Pierce’s wavering pupils, a seedling of hope had begun to bloom.

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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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