The Son-In-Law of the Magician Is a Transcendent Sword Master - Chapter 19
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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 19
That evening, a banquet was held at the Benheim Manor to welcome the mages from Rucen.
Branch family mages were also formally invited to the banquet. A table in the left corner of the banquet hall was our designated spot.
I settled in with Brock and tilted my water glass.
“It looks like Rucen only brought direct lineage members.”
Brock chattered away.
The Rucen mages were all wearing dark red robes, so it wasn’t difficult to distinguish them.
Seven in total.
A number that could be considered many or few, depending on perspective.
“Hey, Reagan. Do you think the head of Rucen is strong?”
“He must be strong.”
“Right, like our family head, Rucen’s head must also be 7th tier, right?”
Brock chewed his food while looking at Kaiden Rucen sitting far away at the head table.
I also widened my eyes, trying to roughly gauge Kaiden’s level. Having reached the 3rd tier, I could sense mana flow more easily than before.
‘Roughly… early 7th tier, I’d say.’
Having just inherited the position of family head, his level was somewhat lacking compared to Stern, but he was undoubtedly at a level that could be called an archmage.
Just then, Kaiden smiled amiably and handed a gift to Stern. Though his mouth was smiling, there wasn’t a trace of mirth in those snake-like red eyes.
In contrast, Stern remained expressionless with his arms crossed, only nodding occasionally.
‘A probing battle.’
According to Renia, while Rucen and Benheim’s territories were close enough for frequent exchanges, their relationship wasn’t particularly good.
In the early days of the Empire, they had even fought territorial wars.
Perhaps because of this, whenever Renia talked about Rucen, she would get furious and chatter angrily.
– They’re foolish ghosts of bloodline supremacy. Even when the Archmage King was rampaging, they stubbornly refused to join hands with mixed-bloods and were wiped out in an instant. Isn’t that ridiculous?
Rucen was a typical aristocratic mage family.
– And do you know how annoyingly their daughter behaved? How irritating she was.
“Hello, Renia.”
A clear voice broke through my thoughts.
Before I knew it, a red-haired girl in a dark red robe was approaching Renia, who was sitting in the center of the banquet hall.
At the girl’s greeting, Renia frowned and reluctantly responded.
“…Yeah. Nice to see you, Petra.”
Petra Rucen.
The very person who had made Renia grind her teeth so much in the past.
“It’s been a while. You’re still as petite as ever.”
Petra greeted her warmly and sat down next to Renia. Renia pulled her chair aside as if annoyed.
“I heard you reached the 3rd tier, Renia? I’m the same. I became 3rd tier recently too.”
“Congratulations.”
“Don’t you think we’ll have a good match?”
“Sorry, I’m not the type to stake my life on tiers like you.”
Petra frowned.
“Hey, who said anything about staking lives? I just want to reach a high level as a mage.”
“Yeah. I’ll cheer you on.”
Renia answered half-heartedly while sipping her drink.
I thought that would end the conversation.
“Renia, I can already create seven swords simultaneously. How many rune characters can you use?”
“Well. I haven’t really tried.”
“Then shall we try it now?”
“No, I’m tired today.”
Renia looked like she was dying from how bothersome Petra’s clinging was.
‘She really is annoying.’
I could roughly understand why Renia before the regression would grind her teeth just hearing the name Petra Rucen.
It was like hatred for one’s own kind. Renia didn’t particularly like people who were as meddlesome as herself.
That said, Renia didn’t truly despise Petra.
– At least compared to her family head, she was an excellent mage. She fought to the end and died.
Even after Rucen was destroyed by the Archmage King, Petra Rucen apparently continued to resist alongside the surviving mages.
At one point, she had even joined forces with Renia, but ultimately was defeated by the Archmage King and executed.
– A bitter ending.
– Indeed bitter.
I remembered having that brief exchange.
Perhaps because of that, I didn’t harbor any ill feelings toward Petra Rucen.
“By the way, how’s your brother, Renia? Has he reached the 4th tier?”
“No, not yet.”
“Ah. If I’m lucky, I might reach it first?”
Petra kept talking, and Renia seemed unable to bear it any longer as she abruptly stood up.
Renia’s violet eyes turned toward the corner table where the branch family members were gathered.
Brock’s shoulders tensed and stiffened.
“Uh, hey, Reagan. I think Lady Renia is looking at me?”
Of course, it was just his imagination.
Renia didn’t spare Brock even a glance, pointing her chin directly at me.
“Petra, your level isn’t something to brag about. Reagan over there became 3rd tier just one month after starting magic.”
“…What?”
Petra looked startled and stared directly at me.
‘This is troublesome.’
Renia had dumped this bomb on me because she found the situation annoying.
“One month after learning magic… 3rd tier?”
Petra looked at my face as if she couldn’t believe it. She asked Renia as if seeking confirmation.
“Is that really true?”
“It’s really true. Reagan is even from commoner origins.”
“Commoner origins….”
For Rucen, with their family tradition of valuing bloodlines, this must have been quite shocking news.
Renia continued speaking.
“Recently, he even received an elixir.”
“E-elixir… that miraculous medicine?”
“Yes.”
Petra’s mouth fell wide open.
It wasn’t just Petra. The banquet hall began to stir. The elixir was Benheim’s treasure that was almost never given to outsiders.
Renia seemed quite pleased with Petra’s shock and added more fuel to the fire.
“Moreover, Reagan dueled with my brother and won twice.”
“Hey, Renia!”
Arno, who was sitting nearby, shouted in surprise, but most people in the banquet hall had already heard Renia’s bombshell declaration.
Murmuring sounds.
Arno’s face turned red. It was an expression mixing the humiliation of defeat with the helplessness of being unable to refute his sister’s words.
Then came the piercing gazes directed at me.
I was about to let out a deep sigh.
“….”
I felt Kaiden Rucen from the distant head table staring intently at me.
It wasn’t an ordinary gaze.
A strange look mixing wariness and greed.
‘I don’t want to draw unnecessary attention.’
I didn’t want to make acquaintances with the Archmage King and other great mages yet.
Stern was said to be favorable toward me, but Kaiden and the other great mages were unknown entities.
“….”
It was during that moment of awkward silence.
Family head Stern, who had been at the podium, stood up from his seat. He showed me a very faint smile as I stood at the center of the commotion.
Then, as if to settle this entire situation, he clapped his hands to draw attention.
“Everyone, please be quiet. I will now explain about the Hunting Festival.”
Thanks to Stern’s timely intervention, the attention focused on me shifted to him.
“The Hunting Festival is a celebration honoring the tradition passed down from Benheim’s founder, who once made a living hunting magical beasts.”
When Stern waved his finger several times in the air, runic characters connected like constellations created images.
It was the scenery of the forest where the Hunting Festival would take place.
“The Hunting Festival will be held for two days starting tomorrow at dawn. Participants are mages from Benheim and Rucen who haven’t yet reached adulthood. The rules are simple. Hunt fake magical beasts created through illusions and compete based on the number defeated.”
Stern’s voice echoed throughout the banquet hall.
“There are three types of magical beasts: low-grade, mid-grade, and high-grade. Low-grade beasts are worth 1 point, mid-grade beasts 5 points, and high-grade beasts 20 points. Each beast’s classification can be identified through the color of the illusion.”
Stern took out a small magic stone from his chest and dropped it on the ground.
A wolf-like beast, a bear-like beast, and a tiger-like beast appeared one by one.
The beast illusions glowed in green, blue, and red light respectively, representing low-grade, mid-grade, and high-grade.
“When you defeat a magical beast, proof of that will be automatically recorded on each participant’s qualification badge. Additionally, the three mages who achieve the highest scores will receive special prizes prepared by both Benheim and Rucen families.”
The eyes of young mages throughout the banquet hall lit up.
If it was a prize prepared by two great magic families, its value would be beyond imagination.
Satisfied with the participants’ honest reactions, Stern smiled and explained the final rule.
“Combat between participants is strictly forbidden. Conversely, cooperation is allowed. However, keep this in mind. If two or more people hunt a single magical beast, those points will be divided fairly according to contribution and recorded.”
With those words, Stern stepped down from the podium.
The banquet began to regain its liveliness, but the topic was entirely filled with talk about the Hunting Festival.
Amid the buzzing commotion, Brock approached with a stern expression and said.
“Reagan, you heard.”
“Heard what.”
“We absolutely must catch at least one beast in this Hunting Festival. That’s the unwritten rule.”
Brock’s voice was filled with deep tension.
“What happens if we don’t catch even a single one?”
“Then we won’t be here next year. We’ll be expelled from the main family. Because it’s proof of having no talent.”
I understood.
The Hunting Festival was a celebration of honor for the direct lineage.
On the other hand, for the branch families, it was a cold stage of survival where they had to prove their worth.
“Don’t worry. I earned 5 points last year. Just follow me and you won’t come back empty-handed.”
Brock grinned and spoke triumphantly, but….
‘It doesn’t seem like it’ll be particularly difficult.’
I have countless experiences fighting magical beasts.
Moreover, hunting fake ones made from illusions rather than real magical beasts would be nothing.
Actually, I wasn’t very interested in recording good results at the Hunting Festival. While the prizes that Benheim and Rucen had prepared were tempting, preparing for the black mages took priority.
“So you see? Last year, this big brother cast magic on a magical beast’s neck….”
Brock, who had been triumphantly telling his heroic tales, suddenly closed his mouth.
“Hello.”
Renia had somehow approached behind me. Behind her, Petra followed like a shadow with a thoroughly displeased expression.
“We’re going together, right? Tomorrow should be fun.”
Renia spoke with amusement in her voice, and I nodded.
“Fun?”
Petra interjected.
“Renia, you’re not seriously thinking of fooling around with such a lowborn, are you? Do you think the Hunting Festival is child’s play? Planning to play house?”
Renia turned to look at Petra and sighed as if she found her pathetic.
“Playing house? I suppose that’s how it would look to someone without talent like you.”
“What did you say?”
“I guarantee that Reagan will score much higher than me. Not to mention you.”
Renia crossed her arms defiantly and declared.
Petra’s eyebrows shot up.
“What could such a lowborn do! What’s so great about receiving just one elixir!”
Petra screamed as if in agony.
While it wasn’t particularly threatening, I couldn’t help but feel displeased at continuously hearing myself called lowborn to my face.
Instead of giving Petra my attention, I asked the frozen Brock.
“Hey, Brock.”
“Uh, yeah?”
“You said you earned 5 points last year?”
“I did…?”
I chuckled and glanced sideways at Petra before speaking.
“Then I should aim for about 21 points. One high-level magical beast, and that noisy thing over there.”
At that moment, the air froze cold.
Petra’s face had turned pale white beyond anger.
“Ah, ahahaha!”
Renia couldn’t contain her laughter and her shoulders shook.
“You…! How dare a lowborn like you…!”
Just as Petra was about to scream something.
―Click-clack.
The sound of shoes echoed.
Everyone’s attention turned.
Stern had somehow come down from the head table and was crossing the banquet hall toward us.
Everyone held their breath.
“Reagan.”
However, Stern’s business was with me, not Renia or Petra.
Thud.
Stern placed his hand on my shoulder.
Everyone in the banquet hall was shocked. The family head was showing interest in an outer mage who hadn’t even inherited the family bloodline.
Kaiden’s eyes narrowed, and Brock grinned as if he had expected this.
“Do you see?”
Stern applied pressure to the hand on my shoulder.
His gaze turned toward the Benheim elders sitting at the head table. I didn’t know their names. However, I was certain that several black mages were mixed among them.
Stern leaned down and spoke quietly in my ear.
“Tomorrow, let us begin the hunt.”
There was no way I could fail to understand that this was a kind of signal.
I smiled bitterly to myself and nodded slightly.
‘As expected.’
This entire Hunting Festival was a scheme orchestrated by Stern.
Stern planned to use the Hunting Festival as bait to lure out the black mages and eliminate them all at once.
In other words, this event was a real hunt to scrape out Benheim’s festering wound.
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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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