The Son-In-Law of the Magician Is a Transcendent Sword Master - Chapter 124

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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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Chapter 124
My Previous Life.
Back when I was just beginning to make my mark as a mercenary.
It’s shameful to admit now, but at that time, I harbored no such profound hatred toward those creatures called Black Mages.
After all, wasn’t the world simply a place where people lived? Mercenaries sold their blades and shed their blood for gold, and Black Mages merely transgressed taboos—yet they were still humans pursuing their own interests, or so I believed.
If evil existed, I reasoned, it was a problem of that individual alone. There was a time when I possessed such flexible thinking.
It was the Chimera Sorcerers who shattered that perspective entirely.
Curse sorcerers, barrier sorcerers, necromancers, blood mages—all were branches of Black Magic, and they were certainly among the most wicked across the Continent….
Yet even they could not match the depravity of the Chimera Sorcerers.
The Chimera Sorcerers believed that using the freshest possible vessels produced superior chimeras, and there was truth to it—perhaps half-truth. And by “fresh,” they meant “not yet dead” and “as young as possible.”
In other words….
“The younger and more alive the child, the more efficient it is as a chimera vessel.”
“called” or “named”
To this simple, vile conclusion, the Chimera Sorcerers had arrived.
During my mercenary years, each time I hunted them down, I witnessed horrors beyond measure.
In nearly every Chimera Sorcerer’s workshop, children were caged like beasts. Limbs severed, beast flesh grafted onto their bodies—they had become monsters unable even to beg for death.
At least mercenaries possessed a code.
There were lines we would not cross.
Just as Gerkin, the mercenary captain I met in Rodel long ago, was judged by me for crossing that line, so too did I execute the Chimera Sorcerers of that era.
Seized by sudden curiosity, I remember posing this question to a Chimera Sorcerer facing death.
– Why do you wretches do such things?
The limbless Chimera Sorcerer let out a bitter laugh, as if the question were absurdly naive.
– A funny question.
– Funny?
– Yes. We are gourmands. We possess tastes unlike others.
Even as blood spilled from his lips, the Chimera Sorcerer spoke with a sickening smile.
– What gourmet would favor food made from cheap ingredients?
– ….
A human face concealing a bestial heart. No phrase fit better.
Afterward, I posed the same question to several other Chimera Sorcerers I encountered, and their answers were always similar.
From that point on, I made a vow.
Whether Chimera Sorcerers or Black Mages more broadly.
There would be no compromise with those who had abandoned their humanity.
No mercy.
This experience played no small role in my decision to join Renia’s Resistance.
That vow remained unchanged even after my return.
If anything, it had only grown more resolute.
“So then, you lot.”
In the Great Cave of Southern Jungle.
Raising my blade toward the Beast Face Society’s Chimera Sorcerers, I continued.
“Never remove that beast mask.”
“….”
“You will die by my hand as beasts, not as humans.”
* * *
Fox, a member of the Beast Face Society, found the current situation deeply perplexing.
‘Only two of them?’
Through the entrance of the vast cavern came only two: a gray-haired young man and a blonde woman.
Both from Benheim.
I knew their cultivation was considerable.
Roughly 6th Rank.
For Beast Face Society members, most of whom were 5th Rank, they were formidable opponents.
But this was a Black Mage’s workshop.
[Kyarrrrrr.]
Moreover, it belonged to none other than the Chimera Sorcerers.
To think that merely two would dare storm this fortress, teeming with hundreds of chimeras.
There were limits to arrogance. At least, all members of the Beast Face Society, including Fox, thought so.
“The brats have dug their own graves.”
Fox opened his mouth.
Then the gray-haired man, Reagan von Benheim, stared directly at Fox and smirked.
“So it’s you? The sorcerer from the Red Pirate Guild.”
“….”
Fox’s expression hardened.
With battle imminent, the man was far too composed.
Above all, those eyes.
A coldly honed killing intent lay beneath the surface.
It was chilling.
Those were not eyes one would expect from a mere youth in his early twenties.
As Fox tensed, Reagan extended his hand toward the cavern’s ceiling.
The rune character Hagalaz (ᚺ).
Rumble——.
The rocks above trembled and fell, completely sealing the cavern entrance through which the two had entered.
‘…What.’
Fox’s eyes widened.
What in the world was this?
He had cut off his own escape route.
Was this a last stand?
No, even recklessness had its limits.
Fox was not alone in this thought.
“Hahaha! Trapping yourself, how foolish.”
A Chimera Sorcerer wearing a raven mask stepped forward with a sneer.
“I’m starting to think we’re being underestimated far too much….”
But before Raven could finish his words.
Flash—
A golden gleam blazed across the air.
Thud.
Raven’s right arm fell away from his body.
“Wh…?”
Only then realizing his arm had been severed, Raven collapsed in shock.
“Aaaaaargh!”
Raven let out a scream that seemed to tear the very air. Blood poured madly from the severed surface at his elbow.
‘…How?’
Fox’s eyes widened in disbelief.
I couldn’t even fathom what technique had been used. All I could discern was that he had casually swung the wand in his left hand once.
With just that single motion, he had severed the arm of a 4th Rank mage.
Raven was the weakest Black Mage in the Beast Face Society. Yet 4th Rank was hardly a level to be dismissed anywhere.
‘…This is dangerous.’
As that thought reached me, Reagan grinned wickedly and slid his wand back into his belt.
“Listen here, bird brain. Get your words straight. I’m not trapped with you lot….”
Flutter!
A black cloak suddenly billowed forth from nowhere, draping gently across his shoulders.
“You’re trapped with me.”
Cold sweat trickled down Fox’s spine.
If Fox had a natural predator, if every beast in the Beast Face Society had a natural predator….
It would be this man—that instinctive certainty flashed through my mind.
* * *
Saya and Rashek advanced across a narrow wooden bridge suspended over a dizzying cliff.
It had been a decade since Aconia had established this cave as a stronghold. After so many years of abandonment, I worried the bridge might have deteriorated, but fortunately the wooden planks remained intact.
“Tread carefully as you follow. One misstep here means certain death.”
“Right! It certainly looks that way.”
Saya glanced sideways at Rashek following behind her.
‘Is it truly wise to trust this man?’
Saya could not shake her doubts even now.
It was unavoidable.
After all, he was the bloodline of Maelrn, Aconia’s sworn enemy—and not merely bloodline, but the heir apparent.
If Maelrn were the man Saya believed him to be, he might push her off this cliff without hesitation.
‘No, that can’t be.’
Saya forcibly suppressed the anxiety that had begun to bloom.
Last evening, when Rashek had handed her that handkerchief, his expression was not that of someone telling lies.
Now… I must believe.
Believe and entrust him with my back.
The situation was urgent, just as Reagan von Benheim had said.
“…This is it.”
Fortunately, Rashek arrived at our destination without dropping Saya off the cliff.
A small fissure ran through the cliff face. As I pushed aside the stone blocking the entrance, cold air seeped out from within the cave.
“Hmm…. For now, Saya, you wait here. I’ll go in first.”
Rashek strode over the threshold and ventured deeper into the cave.
Moments later, as if to signal that all was clear, he waved his hand. Saya was about to step onto the stone to climb up when Rashek suddenly extended his hand toward her.
“….”
I stared at the offered hand.
Was he really asking me to take it and climb up?
Noticing Saya’s gaze, Rashek seemed to realize his mistake and withdrew his hand.
“My apologies. Old habits, I’m afraid….”
“….”
I had heard that Maelern’s mages were arrogant and cruel, yet this man before me possessed a peculiar innocence and clumsiness.
Strip away the shell of Maelern, and he seemed like nothing more than an ordinary country youth.
“Never mind.”
Maelern is Maelern.
I would not indulge in unnecessary sentiment.
With that resolve, I climbed over the threshold.
“Let’s hurry.”
Since I knew the cave’s layout, I walked along the narrow passage without hesitation.
Soon, the two of us entered a familiar space.
The stone chamber that Aconia had once used as an encampment.
There, I discovered familiar faces.
“Everyone!”
I cried out with joy.
The Aconia mages who had been captured were imprisoned within a massive iron cage. I rushed forward and examined their condition through the bars.
Fortunately, the number matched what I remembered before they were taken. Though all were unconscious, there were no visible injuries.
I placed my hand over my heart and shook the cage.
“Father, Father! Please wake up! Your daughter has come!”
I shook awake the middle-aged man lying deepest within the cage—Baren, Aconia’s Head.
Baren struggled to lift his eyelids.
“…Saya, why are you here….”
“I’ve come to rescue all of you. Please wait just a moment longer. I’ll free you soon.”
“This place… is dangerous. The Chimeras….”
As Baren continued speaking, he caught sight of Rashek standing behind me.
His eyes narrowed at once.
“Saya, who is that man….”
“He is from Maelern.”
I answered honestly.
Hostility flashed across Baren’s face.
“So it was Maelrn’s scheme after all? Those Chimera Sorcerers!”
“No. He’s helping us right now.”
“Maelrn is helping us?”
“Please, I’ll explain later. Right now, escape comes first.”
Saya shook the heavy lock attached to the iron bars. It was solid. Brute force wouldn’t break it. But if she could corrode the seams with poison, she might manage to pry it open.
Saya drew upon her mana, and a deadly toxin pooled at her fingertips, flowing from her core. The lock began to corrode, but the process was agonizingly slow—it would take at least ten minutes.
“Saya, you didn’t actually make a deal with Maelrn, did you?”
As he grasped the situation, Baren asked with a hardened expression.
“Maelrn is your mother’s murderer. You know that better than anyone.”
Baren’s voice was strained with accusation. The Aconia mages who had awakened at the commotion also cast sharp glares toward Rashek.
Rashek, sensing the subtle shift in atmosphere, scratched the back of his head and retreated.
Saya worked on in silence.
For now, she had to focus on melting that lock and escaping, no matter what.
But Baren was relentless.
“Saya, answer me. Did you collude with those demons?”
“Father, please….”
She was about to beg him to stay quiet.
“Miss Saya.”
Rashek suddenly spoke. When Saya saw his stern expression, her heart sank.
He was human too, after all. It was only natural for him to be angry—he had risked his life to save them, yet they treated him with such hostility.
“I apologize. It seems my family is confused about the situation….”
Saya hurried to make excuses, but Rashek’s next words were entirely different from what she expected.
“Someone is coming this way.”
“…What?”
Only then did Saya realize that Rashek was watching the passageway leading to the center of the cave, not them.
—Click-clack, click-clack.
From the darkness emerged a woman wearing a spider mask.
“…Spider!”
Saya recognized that spider mask.
The Chimera Sorcerers who had visited Aconia’s camp not long ago, wearing beast masks. She was their leader.
“…Haha. Uninvited guests, I see?”
Spider laughed wickedly as she walked forward, dragging her fingers across the metal plate affixed to the wall. Everyone shuddered at the bone-chilling screech of metal.
“I thought you were being awfully bold charging in here… so it was a diversion? Good thing I came to check.”
“…Stop right there.”
Rashek stepped into Spider’s path.
“Hmm….”
Spider looked Rashek up and down, then scoffed.
“So you’re Maelrn’s successor? I’ve heard much about you. They say you eliminated the pirates we were trading with?”
“….”
“Don’t tell me the heir of Maelrn came all this way to save Aconia, his sworn enemy? How remarkably righteous of you.”
“Silence. If you lay a single finger on them, you will not walk away unscathed.”
Rashek clenched his fist. Spirits of differing affinities dwelt within it, glowing brilliantly through the darkness.
Yet Spider paid no heed, continuing in a languid voice.
“Does your father know you’re doing this here?”
Father.
That is, Kashar El Maelrn, Head of Maelrn.
At the mention of that name, Rashek’s lips pressed into a firm line.
“How pitiful. A child born into the wrong bloodline.”
A smile curved across the lips visible between the mask’s edges.
“Your father won’t spare you a thought, no matter what happens. In fact, he might even rejoice at your death. Your life is nothing but a tool to him.”
“…I know.”
Rashek spoke abruptly.
At that composed answer, Spider’s brow furrowed.
“You know?”
“Yes. Perhaps I am foolish as everyone says. But I am not without perception. I understand well that my father despises me, that he sees me as a thorn in his side.”
Rashek took a step forward, lowering his stance.
“Yet I am Rashek of Maelrn, the rightful ruler of these lands.”
“….”
“So as the ruler of the south, I root out the vermin that defiles the jungle. That is all.”
Spider stared at Rashek for a long moment, then exhaled deeply.
“…Truly, I despise you. You’re exactly the type I can’t stand.”
Slither.
Black tentacles began to writhe and extend from Spider’s back.

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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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