The Son-In-Law of the Magician Is a Transcendent Sword Master - Chapter 153
—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————
Chapter 153
“What on earth did you do?!”
“As you can see, I subdued the mercenary captain.”
At my indifferent reply, Seila thrashed about as if she couldn’t comprehend what had happened.
“You smashed that man’s face to pieces without warning! And not just anyone—the captain of the Stork Mercenary Company! The most powerful figure in Eltora, no less!”
“I know. You explained it on the way here.”
I shrugged my shoulders.
“So what about it?”
In the end, Mercenary Captain Gord never even drew his sword before I subdued him and he lost consciousness—and shamefully, he even wet himself.
I hadn’t drawn my blade either. So this was less a proper duel between swordsmen and more like a tavern brawl. After all, Gord had been thoroughly drunk.
“Well, consider your debt to me settled with this.”
“It’s not settled! It’s gotten worse!”
Seila began nervously picking at her fingernails. She was terrified that sparks might fly, having broken the nose of the mercenary captain who had been exploiting her since childhood.
“We… we should run! If what you did gets discovered…”
“It won’t be discovered.”
At my assertion, Seila furrowed her brow.
“What are you talking about! We need to escape while we have the chance. Just lower a rope out the window or something…”
“No, it’s fine. For a while, this commotion won’t reach the outside.”
“….”
Only after hearing my explanation did Seila seem to understand.
Such a tremendous noise had erupted, yet why hadn’t anyone from outside come in? No matter how expensive the stone construction or how excellent the soundproofing, there had to be limits.
“There’s a way to manage it.”
Before entering the room, I had inscribed the Rune character Fehu (ᛈ), which symbolizes secrecy, on the doorframe.
Realizing this fact, Seila’s mouth fell open as she asked.
“Reagan… were you a mage?”
“I suppose.”
“You suppose…?”
“I could be a mage or a swordsman… but for now, I’m probably closer to a swordsman than a mage.”
“…What?”
“It depends on the situation.”
I gave a vague response and turned my head away.
To be honest, subduing Gord was partly to help Seila, but the more fundamental reason lay elsewhere.
– The mercenary group I stayed with was in collusion with the Black Mages, she said.
In my past life, Seila had informed me that the Stork Mercenary Company was connected to Barg, who served as the Archmage King’s instrument.
It seemed unlikely that there had been a major personnel overhaul with the captain being replaced in just a few years. If that were the case, these people would likely still be in contact with the Black Mages at this very moment. So I intended to search through everything thoroughly while I had the opportunity.
“…This must be it.”
I quickly scanned the bookshelves packed densely with books inside the office and found what I was looking for.
A bookshelf thick with dust. Among them, a single book gleamed clean, untouched by dust.
Click.
As I pulled the book, a hidden space behind the bookshelf slowly revealed itself.
Seeing this, Seila’s eyes widened in shock.
“…What… what is this…?”
“Ha.”
I couldn’t help but let out a hollow laugh.
The Mage Markel Benheim had hidden evidence of his collusion with the Black Mages in his study using this exact same method, hadn’t he?
“…It seems all these Black Mages are cut from the same cloth.”
I reached behind the bookshelf and snatched several thick envelopes from the hidden space.
Normally, letters containing sensitive information should be burned immediately after reading to erase all traces. But how could an uneducated mercenary know such meticulous tradecraft?
It was fortunate for me.
I pulled the letters from the envelopes and quickly scanned their contents. Soon, my lips twisted into a grim smile.
“…Now that I think about it, this city was quite close to Airit Estate.”
The curse mages of Airit—the prey of the Alliance Subjugation Force.
The Stork Mercenary Company had been colluding with those Black Mages, regularly receiving and consuming elixirs from them.
* * *
I had the evidence, but I needed to hear a direct confession from his own lips to feel satisfied.
I approached Gord, who lay sprawled on the floor, and slapped his cheek several times.
“Cough…!”
Gord gasped roughly and his eyes snapped open.
“Ugh! You bastard…!”
I struck Gord’s jaw once more, then shoved the letter I’d just found in front of his face.
The moment Gord’s unfocused eyes registered the seal on the letter, his face drained of all color.
“H-how did you…!”
“Quiet. Just answer my questions.”
Crack!
Before Gord could finish speaking, I slapped his cheek sharply again.
He tried to curse, but I spoke in a cold voice.
“You can’t deny you cooperated with the Black Mages. What exactly was this cooperation? Tell me now.”
“I… can’t say.”
“Is it a curse? I don’t think so. There’s no curse binding on your body.”
“Shut up! Do you think you’ll walk away from this unscathed? My men will tear you apart.”
“Go ahead and talk all you want. The men outside won’t hear your voice.”
“…What?”
“And that’s not all. Even if I cut your throat here and hang your corpse outside, no one would know. I have the ability to do such things, and you have no ability to escape this situation.”
At my words, Gord’s pupils trembled with fear.
He seemed to sense that the gray-haired young man before him was no ordinary novice.
But soon, a strange light flickered in Gord’s eyes.
“It’s you…! That young punk who brought down the Black Crows!”
“….”
It seemed the rumors from when I destroyed Gerkin’s mercenary group in Rodel had spread all the way here.
Even if the Black Crows mercenary group was third-rate, the mercenary industry itself wasn’t that wide. It wasn’t strange that Gord had heard of it, nor that he recalled it now.
“…Ugh.”
Gord glared at me with bloodshot eyes. I could see his mind working frantically. If he knew the fate of Gerkin, who had conspired with the Black Mages, he couldn’t possibly fail to realize that I would eventually slit his throat.
And yet.
“Eeek!”
What happened next exceeded my expectations entirely.
He suddenly launched himself toward the desk’s edge as if to smash his head against it.
Was he attempting suicide? It was so unlike a mercenary who valued his own life above all else that my reaction came too late. I belatedly thrust my foot forward, roughly shoving his chest.
But Gord’s target wasn’t the desk. Clenched between his teeth was a small switch that had been pulled from his jacket pocket.
I couldn’t fail to notice that this switch bore a striking resemblance to the communication artifact Gideon had given me previously.
“Damn.”
As I spat out a curse, Gord shouted triumphantly.
“You bastard, you’re not leaving here alive!”
Click!
Gord bit down on the switch with his teeth.
Woop—!
In that instant, a magical alarm system blared deafeningly throughout the entire building. Within seconds, urgent footsteps echoed from beyond the corridor, and the firmly shut office door shattered into pieces.
Dozens of mercenaries came pouring into the room.
They quickly assessed the situation—their battered Captain standing unharmed, me standing perfectly fine above him, and a bewildered Seila—and understood immediately.
“You bastards! How dare you touch our Captain!”
“Kill them!”
Shing!
In an instant, mercenaries armed with cold weapons began encircling us in layers.
“…Heh.”
An unforeseen variable I hadn’t anticipated.
So this is what separates a first-rate mercenary captain from the rest.
Had I known this would happen, I should have kidnapped him and interrogated him somewhere secluded.
But regret comes too late. The water is already spilled.
Then….
‘…Their strength is considerable.’
I assessed my enemies’ cultivation levels with cold precision.
The mercenaries who had just rushed in were all Auror users who wielded mana. True to their reputation as a first-rate mercenary group, they were qualitatively different from the Black Crows, who had been picked off individually like a disorganized rabble.
Moreover, among those leading the charge were four Auror Experts. In the past, there had been several Auror Experts in Aconia as well, but they had forcibly elevated their cultivation through Aconia’s elixirs. These mercenaries before me, however, were genuine Auror Experts.
Of course, if I mobilized every resource at my disposal, I could fight them all simultaneously and emerge victorious.
The problem was that I didn’t have Andvari’s Cube on me right now.
More than that….
“Seila.”
“Huh? Y-yes?”
“What’s your current cultivation level?”
“Me? I’m… an Auror user…”
“Close to becoming an Expert, perhaps?”
“That can’t be….”
It seemed Seila at this moment could barely manage to emit an aura, nothing more.
Considering she had achieved this through sheer combat experience without proper instruction, wielding even a single sword technique that was difficult to apply in actual battle—it was truly remarkable, but the problem was it offered no help in the current situation.
Rather, she was a burden. In the end, I would have to protect Seila while facing four Auror Experts and dozens of aura users.
‘This will be difficult.’
It was an impossible situation.
It would have been different during my Swordmaster days, but now it was beyond my capabilities.
“All right.”
After finishing my thoughts, I spoke to Seila.
“Seila, let’s do as you said.”
“Huh?”
“Let’s run.”
At my words, Seila’s expression twisted in distress.
“H-how are we supposed to escape!”
As Seila said, there were dozens of blades bearing down on us alone.
However, instead of explaining, I quietly raised my left hand.
As a pale blue form of mana began to shimmer above it, the mercenaries tightening the encirclement widened their eyes.
Whoooosh.
Threads of mana wove together, taking shape, and in an instant knotted and solidified firmly.
What I now held in my hand was a crude, massive greatsword that bore a striking resemblance to the nodachi Seila had slung across her back.
Meanwhile, the mercenaries who witnessed the miracle of a sword being forged from empty air stood speechless.
“W-wait… that… could it be from Rucen….”
The Rucen Mage Family and their signature conjured blade magic. Even rough mercenaries who handled brutal work had heard of their fearsome reputation.
The reason these men hesitated now was simple: they were wondering whether the gray-haired man before their eyes was truly a mage of Rucen, and if so, whether they dared raise their blades against him.
“What are you doing, you fools! Rucen or whatever! Just subdue him! Damn it! Don’t you see my condition!”
Finally, when Gord barked his command, the mercenaries snapped to attention and gripped their swords anew.
But I had already seized Seila’s arm with iron strength and pulled her close.
“Tara.”
“T-tara? With this sword?”
“Yes.”
It was a technique I had used with Renia back in Trion.
That time I had failed to control the speed and direction, resulting in a crash landing, but this was my second attempt. I should be able to handle it somewhat more skillfully.
“Hold on tight. If you fall in the middle, I won’t be able to save you.”
“W-what do you mean fall!”
Seila would have answered her own question in the next moment.
Why?
“Aaaaaaahhhhh!”
Because the pale blue mana greatsword smashed through the office’s glass window and shot into the night sky like a cannonball.
As we rocketed into the starlit darkness amid a shower of glass shards, a biting wind whipped fiercely through my hair.
Fortunately, the altitude and speed were maintaining better stability than last time. However, fully controlling the direction remained difficult.
If I landed on the ground carrying this crushing weight, I could certainly surround myself with aura and save my life, but Seila, who was merely an Auror Expert, would have every bone in her body shattered.
In the end, I chose the second-best option.
“Seila.”
“What is it?!”
“This might hurt a little.”
I released the levitation spell. The moment Seila found herself suspended in empty air, her eyes went wide.
Then gravity seized our ankles.
We plummeted straight into the river that cut across Eltora.
Or rather, we crashed into it.
—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————