Chapter 210: All Sorts of Branches (2)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 210: All Sorts of Branches (2)
Uncle Aeryun’s words left me lightheaded.
Kidnapping.
By dictionary definition, it refers to the act of taking someone away by force. In a RoFan, it was something the female lead suffered through every other day.
However, in the current state of this RoFan world, such a thing was unimaginable.
I mean… Daisy getting kidnapped was simply beyond the realm of possibility.
Usually, this is where the plot goes, “Daisy’s presence has vanished…!” but this was different.
“…The Magic Spammer was kidnapped?”
Fuck, a RoFan male lead.
And not just any male lead, but the Magic Spammer whose skills even I had to acknowledge alongside Ellen. He’d been kidnapped.
“How did that even happen…?”
I thought Prince Esid was the only one among the male leads pathetic enough to get kidnapped.
When I asked Uncle Aeryun how this could have occurred, he let out a deep, heavy sigh before answering.
“They say magic didn’t work on them.”
“……?”
“The opponents aren’t ordinary. They’re the ones who use the same sorcery Silence used.”
“……”
Using the same sorcery as Silence.
It wasn’t entirely nonsensical. Sorcery was something anyone could use, provided they were willing to pay the price.
If someone met the same conditions and offered the same sacrifice as Silence, they could theoretically use his sorcery.
However, the price of Silence’s sorcery, as Boradori had explained, was steep.
—The enlightenment a mage has gained over a lifetime.
—What does that mean? It means that unless a mage at the level of a Grand Mage is willing to throw away all their magic and start over from scratch, they can’t obtain that sorcery.
Furthermore, Silence’s magic nullification supposedly had a limit.
He could only nullify magic that was weaker than the magic he had discarded.
Which meant…
—He was originally one of the strongest mages to begin with.
A sorcery that could only be obtained if a top-tier mage threw everything away.
Boradori said she could technically obtain it too, but if she did, she’d just end up as a total loser civilian.
In short, to complete Silence’s sorcery, a Grand Mage-level individual had to discard everything, build a body and techniques capable of rivaling a knight, and then learn a completely different system of magic—one entirely foreign to the way they had spent their life learning.
Of course, they didn't have to relearn magic, but…
—Even if they say they threw it away, they’re beings who spent their whole lives learning magic. Just as breathing is natural to a human, magic is natural to a mage.
She’d made that comment, which a non-mage like me couldn't wrap my head around, but if a mage said so, I guess that’s how it was.
Anyway, it turned out Silence was a hidden member of the Dale royal family and a Grand Mage at least equal to a Tower Master. Yet, he had discarded all of that to gain the sorcery of magic nullification.
Even then, he had learned a different system of magic to a respectable level.
Furthermore, while knights from countries other than Leon tended to rely more on mana than physical strength or technique, he was a monster who could beat down knights even when neither side could use mana—despite being a born mage.
A monster that made you wonder how the hell anyone beat him.
That was why Boradori said he remained highly rated even in the mid-to-late stages of the story, where the RoFan power creep usually goes off the rails.
And yet, those kinds of guys were popping up now, not just as individuals, but as mass-produced units.
No matter how much dark mages were being treated like common mobs and the Demon Tribe was appearing earlier than scheduled…
Something that never happened in the original work wouldn't just occur out of the blue.
Well, I’d have to consult Boradori for more details.
But before that.
“What about the Fire Spammer?”
The Fire Spammer would have lost her mind immediately.
“We’re keeping it a secret for now.”
“Is that even possible?”
“Dale is cooperating.”
So even Dale realized things were getting dangerous.
Well, if the Fire Spammer went on a rampage, the only one who could stop her was the Prince of Dale. Since that prince had been kidnapped, Dale would be in a bind if anything happened.
“But how did he get kidnapped in the first place?”
“That’s the bigger problem.”
Seeing Uncle Aeryun’s grim expression, I wondered if they didn't even know the reason.
“It’s not that we don't know.”
It seemed our Academy wasn't that incompetent.
If anything…
“…Circumstantially, it appears Prince Arwen went to find them himself.”
“The Prince himself?”
It seemed the Magic Spammer was the incompetent one.
“Oh, that?”
After hearing all the info, I sought out my personal translator, Boradori. The moment her eyes widened as if she realized something, I immediately put her in a headlock.
“You brat, you’re still hiding things from me?”
“Aaaagh! No, wait! I’m innocent! I’m seriously innocent this time?!”
“You were innocent last time, and the time before that. If you’re innocent every single time, maybe the whole world is just out to get you?”
“I mean, that’s true, but still!”
A moment later, a released Boradori glared at me with teary eyes.
“I just have a hunch, it’s not like I was hiding it.”
“If you have a hunch, tell me in advance.”
“It’s only a rational deduction once the results are out! How am I supposed to mention every single thing that might happen?”
That sounded plausible enough, so I admitted I was in the wrong this time.
As a bonus, when I mentioned a year-end bonus, she started beaming as if nothing had happened.
Boradori really was a simple woman. Thank god.
“The ones who kidnapped Arwen are probably former Dale mages who defected to the dark mage faction following Silence.”
“Why do you think so?”
“You said Arwen went to them first. Arwen isn't an idiot; he’d need a reason to go. Unless Daisy was kidnapped, they must have lured him in using Dale’s secret as bait.”
The only ones who could do that were Silence, who was of Dale royalty, and the followers who defected from Dale with him.
“What exactly is that secret?”
“I don't know.”
“…What?”
“I said I don't know exactly what it is.”
According to Boradori, that secret was never revealed in the original work.
It was a sort of MacGuffin, but based on the general flow, it was supposedly a massive "original sin" committed by Dale.
“The problem is that there isn't just one or two ‘original sins’ of Dale mentioned in the original.”
“Typical Magic Spammers.”
There was a reason they were ranked #1 as the country most avoided by heterogeneous species.
The Empire had grudges popping up from hundreds of years ago too, but most of those were just for political justification or petty grievances. Dale’s grudges, however, were usually the real deal.
“Anyway, it’s an original sin on a level that doesn't even compare to the known ones. At the same time, it’s the reason why Silence, a member of the Dale royalty, discarded his magic and fled the country… If that’s the case, Arwen wouldn't have had a choice but to check it out, right?”
I nodded at the plausible reasoning.
However, we still had many problems left.
“So, what’s the deal with the people using Silence’s sorcery?”
“I really don't know about that… Maybe the followers discarded all their magic once Silence died?”
“You said the efficiency was terrible.”
“It is, but they’re still Dale mages who followed Silence out. Even if they aren't Grand Mages, they’re probably just a tier below.”
Even at that level, they would be immune to magic from anyone except a Grand Mage.
The problem was whether those who had lived their whole lives as mages—and weren't even Leon mages—could possess physical capabilities.
“Maybe they underwent modification?”
“Is that a thing?”
“Of course. They’re with the dark mages.”
If dark magic was involved, it was possible.
I’d forgotten because their recent actions were so incompetent, but dark mages were originally dangerous people.
“If nothing else, raising physical abilities is very easy for dark mages. You just have to sacrifice some of your lifespan.”
“That doesn't sound ‘easy’…”
“Unlike other dark mages, these are people who fled Dale with a sense of conviction.”
She meant they were the most annoying type of enemy.
“If they never appeared in the original, how are we supposed to find them?”
“…It might be surprisingly easy.”
“Why?”
“Because they’re makeshift sorcerers. Sorcerers aren't common. Aside from me, there shouldn't be any traces of them in the Academy. If we backtrace them, we’ll find them in no time.”
“That actually works?”
There was no way our Boradori could be that useful.
I couldn't help but look at her with suspicious eyes.
However.
“I’ve found a trace here!”
“It appears they used this place as a temporary base. Judging by the remnants of ancient Dale language…”
Just as Boradori said, we discovered their temporary hideout by following the traces.
“It’s a dark mage!”
“Prepare for engagement!”
Following those traces further, we even found the dark mages’ secret hideout.
And the next day.
“My mana?!”
“Silence’s magic! No, it’s sorcery! Mages, fall back!”
We encountered an enemy using mana nullification, presumed to be one of Silence’s followers.
Mana.
In my previous life, it was an ability I only saw through text.
In this world, it was an ability everyone could use, as natural as breathing.
Of course, there were commoners who couldn't awaken their mana.
But that was simply because they had low innate mana sensitivity and lacked education.
Usually, even commoners learned and used simple spells, called lifestyle magic, at the cathedrals.
Because of this, this world, where science had not developed, was highly dependent on mana.
No, mana covered most areas that science could, to the point where science didn't need to develop.
And that dependence on mana grew even greater for those who possessed a lot of it—reaching the realm of mages and knights.
At the same level, the outcome would be decided by the application of magic or swordsmanship.
But that was only at the same level; usually, the side with more mana had the advantage.
That was why a being like Silence was lethal not only to mages but also to knights who had only focused on accumulating mana.
However.
“They’re weaker than I thought.”
“That only applies to a monster like you.”
That logic didn't apply to Leon, where even the mages went for daily runs and lifted weights.
“No, I’m telling you, Silence was actually strong.”
“I told you, stop using a monster as a point of comparison…”
Uncle Aeryun looked at me as if I were absurd, but I was being serious.
I was a bit nervous because they were followers of Silence—the man who made me think, ‘Ah, I’m dead,’ for the first and last time in this world.
But the first follower I met was literally just a buffed-up idiot.
He had clearly undergone modification, as his physical specs felt like they exceeded human limits… but it felt like the human controlling it couldn't handle that power.
I mean, his punching form was so pathetic he felt like a total Magic Spammer through and through.
I wondered if it was a high-level ruse to lure me into lowering my guard, but it wasn't even that.
Literally, a Magic Spammer who received a physical buff. Yet, because he couldn't use mana, he was just a punching bag whose attacks did zero damage.
He was just that, so he wasn't a difficult enemy.
However.
“No one except you can catch those guys.”
“Not even you, Uncle?”
“What exactly do you expect from me…?”
It seemed that while it was easy for me, it wasn't the case for everyone else.