The Mage’s Nemesis Has Reincarnated - Chapter 68

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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 68
The territorial war ended far more easily than anticipated.
Every opponent who witnessed Zeke McLafflin’s prowess lowered their swords and surrendered.
Since there was no reason to slaughter those who yielded, Zeke McLafflin ceased his frenzied rampage.
“We won!”
“We actually won!”
The surviving Hamilton soldiers erupted in jubilant cheers.
Having steeled themselves for death, they could scarcely believe their unexpected victory.
[You have achieved victory in the territorial war.]
[Main Quest cleared!]
[You have acquired a new basic skill as a reward.]
Upon confirming the reward, I allowed myself a subtle smile.
‘I wonder what skill I’ve obtained?’
The moment I attempted to examine my skills, members of the Golden Eagle Mercenary Corps rushed toward me.
Despite our victory, their faces bore bewilderment rather than joy.
“Zeke McLafflin. What just happened?”
“Weren’t you a mage?”
“Could you actually wield aura as well?”
“Idiot. Didn’t you see? There was no aura on that blade.”
“But those movements….”
The members bickered amongst themselves, debating heatedly.
Looking at them objectively, they weren’t particularly close to me.
During my time with the mercenary company, I’d barely exchanged words with them.
Yet they approached me now out of sheer curiosity.
This was an awkward situation for me.
‘I need to explain this carefully.’
If I failed to convince them, my future with the mercenary company could become uncomfortable.
I might even be forced to leave the company I’d just joined.
‘After all, I entered as a mage.’
Who would look favorably upon an aura user infiltrating the Mage Order?
No matter how strong, expulsion would be inevitable.
As expected, Captain Chris demanded an explanation.
“Zeke McLafflin. Can you explain what just happened? Are you capable of using magic?”
With all eyes upon me, I opened my mouth.
“As I mentioned, I’m a 6-Circle mage. However, I can also wield a sword. I’ve trained in swordsmanship since childhood whenever I had the opportunity.”
“So you’re an aura user?”
I shook my head.
“No. As you witnessed, I cannot use aura.”
“What? Then how did you move like that….”
“It’s all thanks to this.”
When Zeke McLafflin raised his arm, all eyes turned toward him.
In his hand was an unusually shaped feathered blade.
“I was able to unleash such power thanks to this artifact.”
“Ah, an artifact?”
“That sword grants the same power as an aura user?”
“Yes.”
Zeke McLafflin answered and quietly waited for the members’ reactions.
‘Will they believe it? They have to believe it.’
Whether they believed him or not would determine whether I could continue staying with the mercenary company.
I was inwardly tense, but fortunately my worries proved groundless.
“So that’s how you cut through aura-wielding enemies so effortlessly?”
“I knew it! I thought it was strange that you used such an unusual sword, but it has such a function?”
“That’s quite an impressive item. Where did you find something like that?”
The members believed Zeke McLafflin’s words without question.
After all, there was no way someone in this world could use both magic and aura simultaneously.
Attributing it to the artifact’s power was far more convincing.
‘They actually believe it?’
Zeke McLafflin himself was taken aback by how readily they accepted his explanation.
Of course, he didn’t show it.
“Using both magic and swordsmanship? Isn’t that the legendary Spellblade that only existed in stories?”
“Ooh, that’s awesome! The Golden Eagle Mercenary Corps’ first Spellblade, Zeke McLafflin!”
‘Spellblade?’
Zeke McLafflin tilted his head and dismissed it as unimportant, unaware of what lay ahead.
He didn’t know the impact the title of Spellblade would bring in the future.

* * *
The soldiers of Agos Territory who cried out their surrender were all bound in chains.
Even in war, executing soldiers who lay down their arms was not yet socially acceptable.
Having won the conflict, there was no need for needless slaughter.
Besides, such mercy would elevate the reputation and honor of the Lord of Hamilton.
Treating the enemy mages whose limbs had been severed was likewise part of image management.
There was no reason to make enemies of mercenary companies—they could always become allies in the future.
“So then, how is the treatment of the enemy mercenary mages progressing?”
“Well, my lord. Though their limbs were severed, our healers can reattach them. They should be walking normally within a month.”
“Zeke McLafflin made an excellent decision from the start. Not a single mage from the opposing mercenary company was killed.”
“And he accomplished such overwhelming feats of martial prowess entirely on his own.”
“Indeed. He completely reversed a situation that could have ended in total annihilation.”
The retainers vied with one another to sing Zeke McLafflin’s praises.
Count Burke Hamilton wore a satisfied smile, clearly in agreement.
No matter what anyone said, Zeke McLafflin was the supreme hero of this war.
The lord knew it. The retainers knew it.
The soldiers of Hamilton Territory knew it. The Golden Eagle Mercenary Corps knew it.
That was why they addressed him with the honorific title.
“So Zeke McLafflin displayed such remarkable martial prowess.”
“Yes, my lord. According to reports, he single-handedly defeated approximately three hundred regular soldiers of intermediate Aura Expert rank.”
“He demonstrated overwhelmingly dominant martial skill—practically a massacre.”
“Hmm. At such a young age… truly extraordinary.”
Count Burke Hamilton nodded slowly, his expression thoughtful.
He couldn’t quite grasp the magnitude of such prowess intuitively, but with so many witnesses, he couldn’t dismiss it either.
“But wasn’t Zeke McLafflin said to be a mage? How did he achieve such martial feats? Was he not actually a mage?”
“He is indeed a mage. The mercenary company vouches for it, so it must be certain.”
“I hear he has also trained in swordsmanship and walked the path of a Spellblade.”
“A Spellblade? Hah… does such a thing actually exist?”
“He cannot wield Aura, but apparently it is possible through possession of a special sword.”
“I’ve heard it’s a sacred blade with an edge as sharp as one wrapped in Aura. It also enhances physical abilities.”
When the retainers pooled together the information each had gathered, it began to make sense.
‘A Spellblade, you say. Truly remarkable…’
Regardless, the lord had no reason to dislike Zeke McLafflin, who had led them to victory.
‘I must reward him handsomely.’
But first, there was a matter that needed to be settled.
“Where is the Lord of Agos?”
“We have him imprisoned.”
“Bring him here. And bring my daughter as well.”
The retainer who received the order hurried to obey.

* * *
In a cell as cramped as a storage closet, a man in his mid-fifties gnawed at his fingernails with evident anxiety.
It was Gary Agos, the Lord of Agos Territory.
‘Damn it. I poured so much money into this….’
He had fielded over five hundred aura-capable soldiers—regulars who could coat themselves in aura.
Beyond that, including all other forces, his total army exceeded two thousand strong.
And that wasn’t enough. He’d scattered gold across various mercenary companies to hire nearly a hundred mages from the Mage Tower.
Wasn’t this more than sufficient military might?
‘Then why… why has everything come to this….’
When he first saw the shadows pouring toward the castle, Gary Agos had believed his forces would conclude the war unscathed and return in triumph.
But all his troops were taken prisoner, and what returned to the castle were not his own soldiers—but the enemy.
Even now, imprisoned in enemy territory, the Count could not comprehend how such a vast army had suffered such a crushing defeat.
It was a battle he should never have lost, neither in numbers nor in quality.
‘My strategy worked perfectly. So why…?’
He had even planted a spy among the enemy commanders.
He had successfully discerned their tactics and struck through the Rear Gate, penetrating deep into the castle itself.
There was nothing more to see after that.
Hamilton Territory should have become his.
Yet the outcome was the complete opposite.
Now he found himself a prisoner, awaiting death.
‘No, wait. There’s still hope. If they meant to kill me, they wouldn’t have taken me captive like this.’
How could he persuade them to spare his life?
While Gary Agos’s mind raced with calculations,
“Follow me, Count. The Lord of Hamilton wishes to see you.”
A retainer arrived and led him to the Lord’s Hall.
“Gary Agos.”
When he raised his head, Count Hamilton was glaring at him as though he might kill him on the spot.
“Do you know why a pig like you is still alive?”
Even for a fellow Count, the words were insulting and devoid of courtesy.
But Gary Agos was in no position to protest.
Thud!
Whatever the case, it was time to press his forehead to the ground and wring his hands desperately.
“P-please, spare me! If you spare my life, I’ll give you everything!”
“Everything? What are you talking about?”
“Agos Territory! If you want the land, take it! I’ll surrender it all! I hear your finances are in poor condition, but now you can live comfortably without worrying about money!”
“Is that all?”
“Eh?”
“I asked if that’s all you have to offer.”
“W-well… I’m not sure what else you could possibly want from me….”
At this response of utter bewilderment, Count Hamilton asked with genuine fury.
“Have you already forgotten the wrongs you’ve committed in such a short time?”
“Ah…!”
Count Agos belatedly grasped what his opponent truly wanted.
Unless one was a fool, there was no way not to understand.
Why Count Hamilton was so furious.
“That, that matter—I shall apologize for it. Sincerely! I was truly mad with lust and carelessly provoked her….”
“What!?”
Startled by the thunderous rebuke, Count Agos realized he had misspoken.
“I, I apologize for that word. I meant no disrespect to your daughter; it simply slipped out as a habit….”
“Why did you do such a thing to my daughter? Why? I should hear your excuse.”
“That is….”
Count Agos showed reluctance.
To speak truthfully, it was to provoke the war.
To provoke the lord and create justification for war, seizing the land in the process.
But if he stated this plainly, his own position would become precarious.
Even if he survived, he could not escape the wrath of ‘that person’ who commanded his every action.
Thus, however base it might seem, he had no choice but to offer a different reason.
“Y, your daughter was simply so beautiful… I could not restrain myself and….”
“Silence! You filthy swine!”
At the lord’s roar, the count fell silent.
Instead, his face bore the expression of one who had committed a capital crime, and he squeezed out tears.
Of course, Count Hamilton was not moved by such a display in the slightest.
“Do you know why you yet draw breath? To answer for your crimes! After I have accounted for your transgressions, I shall mete out punishment befitting them! You already dimly sense that such punishment means death, do you not?”
“I, I am sorry! Spare me! I shall apologize sincerely! I am truly sorry!”
“If you are so sorry, then apologize directly to the victim!”
“T, the victim?”
When he turned his head, an unexpected victim stood before him.
The daughter of the Lord of Hamilton whom he had wronged—Tracy Hamilton.
“Tracy. Are you truly alright with this?”
“Yes… I am no longer afraid now.”
Though Tracy had lived trapped in trauma until now, she no longer flinched from meeting the perpetrator’s gaze.
That was why she had stepped forward courageously at her father’s call.
Tracy, having just shed her girlhood, regarded Count Agos from a distance.
Her eyes held a complex mixture of contempt, fear, and resentment.
Of course, such things meant nothing to Count Agos.
He merely believed that a savior had appeared.
“I, I was wrong! Tracy! I am truly sorry for leaving you with an indelible wound. I have committed a capital crime. Sob….”
“Tracy. Count Agos is apologizing so earnestly—what would you have done?”
“I….”
Count Agos, displaying tears and an air of remorse, thought to himself.
Perhaps I might survive after all.
Perhaps I could at least preserve my life.
But that was a miscalculation—a premature judgment.
“I wish that shameless wretch would simply drop dead.”
It was a statement that made the Count of Agos’s eyes snap wide open.

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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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