The Son-In-Law of the Magician Is a Transcendent Sword Master - Chapter 35

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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 35

The news reached Valen’s ears in the middle of that night.

Upon hearing reports from his men that Reagan and branch family member Brock had mysteriously disappeared, Valen frowned.

“Unauthorized absence? These damn bastards…”

Even if he was a son-in-law personally placed by the family head, this was far too undisciplined.

Valen sent people to search for the two, and before long he was able to hear of their whereabouts.

“Brock has been found in the Mercenary District.”

“Tell them to bring him back immediately.”

“No. The thing is… he says the Deputy Commander should come personally…”

“What…?”

Valen’s face contorted.

A mere unit member telling the Deputy Commander to come or go. There were limits to crossing the line. No matter how leniently he tried to view it, this time he had to scold them severely.

Valen immediately led his close associates toward the Mercenary District.

A splendid stone building. The moment he entered, Valen was bewildered.

“…What the hell is this?”

“It seems Reagan and Brock… subdued them.”

On the first floor, mercenary group members sat lined up against the wall, bound with ropes. Seeing the deep worry etched on their faces, this didn’t seem like a simple drunken brawl.

That meant just two people had subdued this entire mercenary group?

“…What on earth happened here.”

Valen clicked his tongue as he climbed the stairs. The moment he threw open the tightly closed door and entered the third-floor office, his brow furrowed at the fishy smell of blood that stung his nose.

“…”

There were two corpses in the office. One had an ice spike embedded in the back of his neck, while the other had his throat half-severed.

And in this grim room, Reagan sat calmly on the sofa, wiping blood from his sword. Meanwhile, Brock was pressed against the wall, his face pale as a sheet.

“…Reagan.”

Valen looked back and forth between the corpses and Reagan, understanding the situation.

“Don’t tell me you killed them?”

“You’ve observed correctly.”

“What about the guys downstairs?”

“I subdued them. Ah, of course I didn’t use violence. When I showed them I’d killed their captain, they surrendered obediently.”

“…”

Valen frowned.

Reagan had killed Rodel’s mercenary captain.

Without the family’s permission, he had killed a civilian – the captain of a mercenary group, no less.

This alone was enough to be called an incident. However, what Reagan said next was even more shocking.

“So you’re saying this mercenary group was hired by black mages stationed in Mist Valley, and they’ve been committing the crime of capturing and offering humans every week?”

“That’s correct.”

After hearing the entire story from Reagan, Valen let out a groan.

The Black Crows mercenary group was hired by black mages, and victims called ‘goods’ were imprisoned in the underground prison.

And they had planned to transport them to the black mages’ stronghold every week.

It was hard to believe. However, when he confirmed the underground prison with his own eyes, Valen had no choice but to realize Reagan’s story was true.

“Worthless bastards. How dare they… do such things on the Empire’s territory…”

Dozens of people locked in iron cages. Most were children or young people.

They were meant to be used as experimental subjects and vessels for black magic.

Valen gritted his teeth. The mercenary group had crossed the line by far. The black mages went without saying.

This was information that even Benheim’s intelligence network hadn’t detected in advance.

“Reagan, Brock.”

Valen called the two. Compared to Reagan’s relaxed expression, Brock was cowering, afraid of the scolding he would receive from Valen.

“This incident… cannot be classified as simple misconduct. Ignoring the family’s reporting system and arbitrarily using force is clearly overstepping authority and violating protocol.”

“Yes. I’m aware. If you impose punishment, I’ll accept it gladly.”

“…However.”

Valen let out a small sigh.

“Considering the special circumstances, I’ll let it slide for now. Of course, I haven’t forgiven you. You’ll be held responsible for this incident after the operation ends and we return to the territory. Whether you’re Benheim’s son-in-law or whatever, I intend to handle this by the book.”

“Then I’ll have to achieve great merit in this operation.”

“How cheeky.”

Valen snorted, but he didn’t entirely dislike Reagan’s audacity. He looked around the tragic scene in the iron cages once more, his expression hardening.

“First, we need to handle the situation. We must free these people and transport them to safety. After that, we’ll rejoin the main force.”

An extremely orthodox judgment. However, Reagan raised an objection.

“That would be too late. We must strike the black mages right now. We can’t afford to wait five more days.”

“The reason?”

“I interrogated the mercenary captain. According to that information, they firmly believe these ‘goods’ will arrive tomorrow morning.”

Reagan led Valen and the Rune Guards to the loading yard.

There was a cart there. Inside were dozens of shackles, and even the only window was blocked with iron bars. Even a slave transport cart would be more humane than this.

“If the goods don’t arrive by tomorrow morning, they’ll immediately become suspicious. With communication with the mercenary group cut off, if they’re sharp black mages, they’ll either pack up and flee or strengthen their defenses.”

“…”

“If that happens, we’ll lose the advantage of surprise. Also, they might use the hostages as shields or dispose of them. When that time comes, executing the operation will become much more difficult.”

Valen remained silent. There wasn’t a single wrong word.

It was only a matter of time before the fact that the mercenary group was subdued leaked out.

The longer they delayed, the dimmer the operation’s chances of success became.

“Above all… there are probably other victims already captured at their stronghold. During the five days we wait, innocent victims will increase.”

“…Hmm.”

“If it’s the family head I know, he would understand our independent action. Rather, he would blame us for delaying and increasing the victims.”

“…I can’t argue with that.”

It was actually true.

Valen too was human before being a mage of Benheim. Ignoring the tragedy unfolding before his eyes and standing by while children were sacrificed went against his beliefs.

“Fine. I’ll accept your opinion. We’ll assault the black mages’ garrison at dawn tomorrow.”

At Valen’s decision, the Rune Guards murmured among themselves.

It was a natural reaction. It was a decision to face black mages with thirty Rune Guards without proper reconnaissance and even without support from the main force.

“However, the method is the problem. We don’t know how many black mages there are, but there will be more than us. So we must take advantage of surprise.”

“Their stronghold is probably the abandoned mine in Mist Valley. I hear there’s a barrier set up.”

Hearing Reagan’s story, Valen stroked his chin.

A barrier.

It was a troublesome situation in many ways.

If they tried to break through with a frontal assault, there would surely be a commotion, and they would respond. Stealthy infiltration was also an option, but its success rate was extremely low. They were mages too. They would have established special alarm systems to prepare for infiltration.

As Valen pondered, Reagan smugly curled up the corners of his mouth.

“Deputy Commander, I have a secret plan. Would you like to hear it?”

“…A secret plan?”

“Yes. It’s quite a good strategy. I’m sure you’ll find it appealing too.”

Reagan’s eyes were filled with confidence. It was as if he was already certain his opinion would be accepted.

Valen let out a small sigh. The initiative in the conversation had completely shifted. His opponent was a youngster half his age, yet the flow of conversation was going exactly as he wanted.

However, since there was no particular alternative, he couldn’t help but listen.

“Tell me, this secret plan.”

“It’s quite simple.”

Reagan smiled smugly and pointed to the cargo cart.

“The ‘goods’ the black mages are scheduled to receive total fifteen. All of those goods are children who haven’t reached adulthood.”

“So?”

“As it happens, the number of branch family members accompanying this operation is seventeen. Naturally, they haven’t reached adulthood either.”

Having heard that much, Valen couldn’t help but sense what Reagan’s intention was.

“Reagan, don’t tell me you’re…”

“That’s exactly it.”

Reagan tapped the iron bars of the cargo cart.

“The branch mages and I will personally become the ‘goods’ and go inside.”

At those words, Brock’s mouth fell wide open.

“Y-you, what are you saying! For us to go in as hostages…! We’ll definitely die a dog’s death!”

“Don’t worry. We won’t die. When we start raising hell in the middle of their stronghold, their defenses against the outside will naturally become lax. That’s when the Rune Surveillance Unit can strike from outside.”

Chaos from the inside.

And assault from the outside.

Valen recalled an anecdote from the Empire’s history books.

It was definitely a story about putting soldiers inside a giant wooden horse to capture an impregnable fortress.

“How about it? Isn’t it a decent plan?”

Reagan grinned and drove the point home.

“We’ll do exactly what the Black Mages did to us, right back to them.”

* * *

A dark night without even moonlight.

Black Mage Calus stamped his feet against the cold while repeating curses.

“Damn it. When is that mercenary bastard going to send them?”

The ritual was right around the corner.

His superiors had high expectations for this ritual.

If that greedy mercenary bastard couldn’t meet the deadline, Calus’s own head might roll before the mercenary’s.

Creak.

Then the sound of a cart rolling along the narrow passage of the abandoned mine could be heard.

What eventually entered the cavern was a cargo wagon bearing the emblem of the Black Hyena mercenary group.

Calus brightened up and rose from his seat.

“Why are you so late?”

The man sitting on the driver’s seat answered by silently nodding his deeply pulled-down hat. The characteristic bluntness of mercenaries wasn’t particularly surprising at this point.

What mattered to Calus was whether the ‘goods’ had arrived safely, nothing more.

“Let’s see.”

Calus approached the back of the wagon. With practiced movements, he undid the iron chains sealing the cargo compartment and lifted the heavy latch.

Then Calus pushed back the cover of the cargo compartment.

“Hmm?”

Calus tilted his head after checking the interior.

The condition of the ‘goods’ inside the wagon was strange.

Usually, they should have been mostly malnourished brats or sick vagrants.

But the ones who came this time were different. All appeared to be males in their late teens. Most of them even had lustrous blonde hair.

“Unlike that guy, he must have raided a wealthy orphanage.”

Unlike the previous vessels, they were definitely fresh.

The aura flowing from their bodies was also extraordinary. At this level, they would make excellent sacrifices, even better than that girl who came last time.

“Heh.”

Laughter leaked through his teeth.

His superiors would definitely be satisfied.

“Hey, don’t just stand there dazed, hurry up and unload the cargo!”

Black Mage Calus ordered his subordinates to unload the goods.

“Um… what’s going to happen to us?”

As the subordinates approached the cargo compartment, a boy sitting in the corner of the compartment spoke up.

He was the only one with gray hair. The boy’s voice was trembling faintly, and deep fear about the future lurked in his eyes.

Calus smiled. Since they would soon be horribly dismantled, it wouldn’t be bad to show a small mercy at the end.

Of course, that mercy didn’t mean hope.

“Don’t worry. Your body will be put to very precious use. Your whole body will be squeezed until you don’t even have the strength left to scream.”

Calus giggled and picked up his key ring to unlock the shackle chains.

Clink.

The moment he searched for the key, Calus felt something was off. He didn’t even need to think about the cause.

‘Wait. That kid… how did he speak to me?’

The boy had just spoken to Calus.

He should definitely have had a gag in his mouth.

No, not just the gag.

Had the guys in the wagon even had shackles on their ankles?

“…Ugh!”

Calus hurriedly raised his head.

But the situation had already changed drastically.

His subordinates were sprawled on the ground, and before Calus’s eyes was the tip of a sword rippling with blue light.

“That works out well.”

The gray-haired boy pointing the sword smiled coldly.

“I’m confident at squeezing things too.”

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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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