Chapter 66
Chapter 66
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 67
Chapter Title: Rumors Are Made Through Effort (2)
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Capital City, Marquis Dylan's room.
Marquis Dylan looked at Alice with evident interest.
“Does that mean the Rabbit Hole raid would have been difficult without those two?”
“That’s correct.”
“Wouldn’t that imply that the Duke and I miscalculated our forces?”
Even with the probing question, Alice’s expression remained unchanged.
“It was my failing.”
“Alice. If you withdraw this report, it becomes your achievement. Then the Knight Order wouldn’t treat you like a mercenary anymore.”
Alice was a soldier.
A member of the royal Knight Order, to be precise.
She was currently assigned as the leader of the investigation team formed by the Marquis, but she would have to return to the Knight Order at any time.
“At the same time, you’d get support for the research you want to pursue.”
“…….”
“You know there are plenty of mages among the Knight Order captains.”
While most knights sought promotions, mages had a slightly different mindset.
Unlike high-ranking mages who conducted research through the Magic Tower, these were mages who chose to become soldiers.
They needed the title of captain—at the very least—to continue their desired research.
“Alice. You and I... we’ve known each other since you joined the Knight Order.”
“…….”
“As a mage of the Knight Order, I’ve personally cheered for your continued accomplishments.”
“I’ve always been grateful for that.”
“Well, I won’t deny that I calculated I might one day receive your help.”
Marquis Dylan had taken notice of Alice from the moment she first joined the royal Knight Order.
He had always considered her exceptionally talented.
Nuada, called the Sage. And the witches who had now gone into hiding.
He had foreseen that she would grow into a royal mage who could stand shoulder to shoulder with them.
“Your talent is outstanding. But I thought your honesty was your flaw.”
However, her growth hadn’t been as rapid as he’d expected.
She hadn’t racked up achievements in territorial wars or the Tower, making it hard for her to secure research funding.
“I’ll be frank. I recommended you for this investigation team for your sake.”
“…….”
“So I’ll ask once more. This time as well... will you honestly share your achievements?”
With a complicated expression, Dylan asked, and Alice nodded once again.
“I’d be grateful if you did.”
“......Stubborn girl.”
After some deliberation, Marquis Dylan spoke up.
“Then let’s do it this way.”
“Pardon?”
“A while ago, the royals ordered me to pay attention to the execution of a certain criminal.”
“A criminal?”
“Ferma Vinicis. A Class 3 criminal. I’ll entrust his execution to you.”
There were usually specific people assigned to executions, but there were always unusual cases.
“The royals probably don’t see Ferma as just a simple Class 3 criminal. You’ll handle the interrogation and execution.”
“…….”
“You’ll need to uncover something there. If you promise to find it, I’ll approve this report.”
It was a proposal from Dylan, conditional on recognizing Regin and Greg’s contributions.
* * *
“Thank you.”
As soon as Alice left the room, the Marquis’s retainer brought him his tea.
He was a retainer who had served under Marquis Dylan for a long time.
In other words, he was the one who knew Dylan’s situation and mindset best.
“Are you concerned about Lady Alice?”
“Of course I am. More than ten mages grow up each year on our family’s dime.”
“Lady Alice studied with your support as well, my lord.”
“True. But out of those ten-plus mages, only about two per year turn into proper mages... and she was one of them.”
It was a kind of scholarship system.
A complete sponsorship, without even revealing the patron’s name.
“May I ask why you don’t tell her that?”
“What good would it do? If she’d joined House Dylan as a mage, maybe. But she chose to become a servant of the kingdom.”
“Wouldn’t she still become someone reliably favorable to you, my lord?”
“......Tsk tsk. I won’t say I didn’t envision such a future.”
Marquis Dylan gazed at the ceiling as he continued.
“Sunlight that’s too intense prevents crops from growing well. No reason to grow them in such a place.”
“…….”
“Absolute loyalty to the royals is the path for me and my descendants to survive.”
“…….”
“And yet, the reason I sponsor mages is...”
With a chuckle, he said,
“It’s because I can’t forget that dusty old prophecy. You know it too—the prophecy from fifty years ago when the first witch appeared.”
“......The prophecy of the black mages?”
“Yes. Those who don’t know might dismiss it as nonsense. But I’m different. I believe that someday, just as they said... a war between witches and mages will break out.”
“......I understand. That’s why you sponsor mages.”
“When that time comes, we still need to win, don’t we?”
He didn’t mention the kingdom’s name or his family’s.
They wouldn’t matter then.
“In any case, I hoped those I sponsored would become such mages. And Alice is one of them.”
“I heard you tried to share the credit with her again this time.”
“That’s why I made a proposal.”
“Will she comply?”
“Yes.”
With a chuckle, Dylan replied.
It was the most relieved expression he’d worn all day.
“Alice will carry out Ferma Vinicis’s execution. As a genius in mental magic—one of the best—she’ll uncover whatever he knows.”
The retainer nodded silently.
It was a common occurrence.
Marquis Dylan speaking with certainty about future events.
And the retainer clearly remembered that the outcomes were never far off.
* * *
“Puhaha! So you just went back home yesterday without doing anything?”
The next day.
Regin visited the Spell Crafters’ Association, which he hadn’t been able to stop by the day before.
Bowman, who had heard the story of how he’d had to close up shop and flee, was clutching his stomach laughing.
He was the head of the Nemede School and the one who had helped Regin complete his scroll last time.
“......You never know. It could blow up.”
It wasn’t something Regin could laugh off easily.
......After all, he’d been caught up in plenty of incidents at the Spell Crafters’ Association.
‘The monster escape event on my first visit. That wasn’t even the end of it.’
Every time he let his guard down, something happened, and Regin had died getting swept up in those events.
The crazed gazes from the other association members he’d seen yesterday were more than enough to trigger his danger sense.
“Apparently, Karina gave them an earful. Things are a bit different today, aren’t they?”
“Yes. They just glanced over but held themselves back.”
“Good. They’ve decided to wait for your official announcement.”
“That’s a relief.”
Today, he’d made it inside without issue.
They still gave him the same looks as yesterday, but no one rushed out first.
They were curious about the regeneration scroll Regin had invented but chose to hold back.
“If the creator decides not to reveal it, waiting for the official announcement is the association’s rule.”
“Then why yesterday...?”
“......Something I said in passing to Voland and Gina got around. It stirred up their curiosity.”
“…….”
“With you showing up in that situation, they lost their heads for a moment. I apologize on their behalf.”
Well, as long as no events occurred, it was fine.
In a place filled with completed and half-finished scrolls, incidents never ended neatly.
Regin took off the Flexis Cloak he was wearing and sat at his station.
A deep workshop of the Nemede School. It was Regin’s workbench there.
“You made it to the 6th Floor.”
“That’s right.”
“Who’d have thought Flexis’s Cloak would appear.”
“I was surprised too. I’d never heard of magic like this.”
“No wonder he’s one of the Three Great Mages. Especially famous for being the eccentric one.”
Regin nodded.
‘He might be a more important figure than I felt in the game.’
Flexis was actually one of the NPCs who didn’t get much attention except for a few items.
Unique, but vague.
That was the biggest impression he left on players.
Compared to other efficient items, Flexis’s 14 items were hard to use in the final phases.
‘In the community, the guy who got the Flexis Pendant even became famous through the Flexis Throne.’
However, considering the item structures and various situations.
Flexis was becoming an increasingly intriguing figure.
‘I think Flexis’s items have quite a bit of potential.’
Being unique yet vague often meant the downsides hadn’t been overcome.
But once that vagueness was overcome...
It could become something extraordinary.
Like a spell crafter build that finally sees the light after countless experiments.
“Planning to hit the black market again this time?”
He was lost in thought when Bowman asked Regin.
“Of course.”
There was no reason not to.
Regin quietly stroked his bracelet.
‘I need to exchange them.’
This time too, he planned to turn the smuggled goods into money, then that money into materials.
“I have too many scrolls to make this time. I need a lot of materials.”
* * *
Returning to his lodging, Regin opened his bracelet to access the Infinite Inventory.
A small rift leading to the massive inventory others didn’t have.
Creating it with a single finger gave him a strangely satisfying feeling.
‘Spit it out, ketchup thief.’
His gamer instincts kicked in. For a moment, he struck a pose, indulging in the sentiment.
Shwoosh!
Items from inside began pouring out immediately.
Of course, he couldn’t dump everything like this, so he handled some carefully.
‘......If I pull everything out and the Rafflesia comes tumbling, I’m done for.’
The biggest thing dormant in his inventory was none other than the Rafflesia.
The hidden stage on the 1st Floor, Twilight Forest. It had nearly claimed the underground of that massive forest all by itself.
Even on Earth, it was famous for its size, but DAT’s Rafflesia was a gigantic flower without peer.
He didn’t forget that it could collapse an entire house—and crush him in the process.
‘First, the items I can cash in right away are these, right?’
Excluding those, he sorted the remaining items in front of him.
Laid out like this, it felt like quite the dynamic adventure.
Ancient items from the Rabbit Hole, as well as the various accessories Kaluan’s group had carried, were visible.
‘I’ll hold off on the Rabbit Hole items for now. I don’t know how Alice reported them.’
She’d said we could take the items we farmed, but there was no way to easily trust a kingdom official.
Even if Alice herself didn’t move... large quantities of ancient items moving through the black market could cause issues.
That left miscellaneous items and Kaluan’s group’s belongings.
Even these alone looked like they’d fetch a good price.
‘Just these come to 70 gold.’
He could sell the ancient items later, once he secured a reliable channel.
For now, Regin resolved to sell everything at this black market visit.
‘After that, I need to gather scroll materials. But honestly, the Rafflesia is more urgent. If this keeps up, it might really... rot away.’
He might even have the misfortune of returning to the 1st Floor hidden stage.
If the Rafflesia he’d brought disappeared, he’d have to farm it again.
But this wasn’t a big problem either.
Knock knock—
“Lord Regin. Are you in?”
At the familiar voice, Regin stood up immediately.
‘I did make a deal with Preton.’
He’d promised to procure one material obtainable on the 10th Floor.
“Lord Preton is waiting.”
“I’ll be right out.”
Hiding his upturned lips, Regin stepped outside.
The Delbach Family of Preton, famous for always keeping their word once spoken.
This time, they’d have to go through some real trouble to uphold that pride.