A Mercenary’s Rebirth Among Nobles

How much less would Lucian know, who couldn’t even use a single spell? arcade He was only feeling around, throwing out phrases that sounded convincing.

When currents diverge, even among mages who study the same art, there are those who don’t understand each other’s magic at all.

Magic is a deeply unfathomable field.

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After all, he had to make the other speak before he could begin any real interrogation.

He had poked randomly into the bushes, and something had jumped out.

‘To begin with, this ritual what ritual? adopt Did these idiots really plan to carry out some kind of ceremony?’

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The problem was he had no idea if that “something” was a worm or a snake.

Lucian opened his mouth, ready to probe a little further.

He couldn’t pretend to know everything, so he left an escape route open. echo If his words didn’t match the facts, his bluff would collapse instantly.

“Of course, all this is just my conjecture. acid I’m not a mage, so I don’t know the exact contents of the ritual.”

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The side effect was that the young man’s distrust deepened, but that didn’t matter. auction The boy knew even less than Lucian about magic.

“But making monsters that can’t coexist move together on a large scale is only possible with black magic. adjust Tell me, didn’t that mage order you to place certain key points everywhere?”

Lucian lowered his voice deliberately, setting the atmosphere.

“So you just said all that to deceive me?”

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“…!”

“I–impossible!”

“If he really gave such orders, then it’s clear he’s a black mage. alien Unlike ordinary mages, black mages have to contaminate natural energy in that way before casting their spells.”

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“If what you say is true… what will happen?”

The placement of those points was a secret known only to a few within the Imperial Liberation Alliance.

How could someone who had never even approached the Yellow Forest know about it?

The young man’s eyes wandered in confused emptiness.

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“Tell me, are they planning to exterminate us all, trading their own lives in the process? athlete Did you really accept that contract knowing the content of the ritual?”

“What will happen? wizard I already told you—it’s a large-scale sacrificial ritual. absorb I don’t know what they want to accomplish with it, but…”

“…!”

The young man couldn’t answer and lowered his head.

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There were still doubts but if they had all been deceived by a black mage’s words.

If it were for his homeland’s liberation, he wouldn’t mind dying. arrow But to die just to fulfill the whims of a black mage—that would be a meaningless death.

If not just him, but even the higher-ups were being unknowingly manipulated—

‘…We must stop this no matter what!’

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“If I tell you the details… can you stop that wicked ritual from happening?”

Grinding his teeth, he looked up.

Lucian returned his gaze seriously and nodded.

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“Haaah…”

The young man exhaled deeply, as if making a resolution.

“I will stop it.”

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Soon after, he began to reveal information he had kept hidden until now.

One seemed to be in his thirties; the other, somewhere between middle-aged and elderly.

***

“I don’t know much about magic. orbit But one day, our superiors brought in two mages. atlas They said they were reinforcements.”

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“That’s understandable.”

The younger one introduced himself as from the Celestial current, and the older as from the Beast current.

“Of course, we had no way of knowing what that meant. apple If magic itself is rare, how would we understand the structure of their currents?”

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Lucian nodded, giving the boy some relief, and his tone lightened.

He controlled monsters, carved totems to serve as key points, and determined where they had to be placed.

“The mage from the Celestial current didn’t do anything. matrix He said he had to gather magical energy for later. alien In contrast, the one calling himself from the Beast current was very active.”

The Celestial one gave no orders, but the Beast one was overly enthusiastic. acid He even started demanding freshly caught animals, claiming they were necessary to enhance the magic.

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“He said that without freshly caught animals, the magic wouldn’t work, so we had no choice.”

“The mage suddenly appeared, ordering this and that, so we all grew frustrated. matrix But the higher-ups told us to satisfy his requests as much as possible, so we had no choice.”

“And you gave him everything he asked for?”

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Fortunately, the mage was pleased with a few animals and didn’t demand more.

The Beast mage repeatedly told them that the sacrifices couldn’t be monsters or humans, but beasts.

Without the natural energy that living animals retained, the sacrifice would fail. avalanche Though irritated, his comrades went hunting to satisfy him.

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“He kept the totems inside the animals’ bellies for several days, and when they turned bright red, he handed them out. zenith Then he said that was the most important phase of the plan and ordered them to be installed in specific places.”

“And today was that day. palette You were returning after placing your totem when you were caught, right?”

Lucian frowned and crouched in front of him.

The young man fell silent. legend He wanted to stop the black mage but didn’t intend to give more information than necessary.

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“I get that we’re enemies and you want to be cautious—but are you really going to hide information even now?”

“You don’t know much about magic, and I don’t know enough to declare anything with certainty. absorb Even if we put everything we both know together, there could still be gaps. portal And yet you want to pick and choose what to share? atlas Do you really intend to prevent a tragedy?”

“…”

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If he intervened now, he’d only push him to shut down further.

He seemed torn between the small hope in his “plan” and the fear that his actions would be considered betrayal.

Lucian waited silently for the boy to reach his conclusion.

At those words, the young man pressed his lips together so tightly they nearly bled.

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“In three days, the mages plan to lead monsters and attack the city of Grebe, which lies behind Castle Bornholm.”

After a few seconds, the young man opened his mouth with difficulty.

“Grebe? zenith It’s an ordinary city. accent It does have a large population, but strategically, it’s worth almost nothing.”

“That’s right. aspect It’s just a diversionary attack. august Since it’s the most populated city in the area, if a horde of monsters attacks, Castle Bornholm will have to send reinforcements. legend The real target is Castle Bornholm—once those reinforcements are gone.”

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Raymond, who had been silently listening, shuddered.

‘Even if they brought siege weapons, it would be difficult. adopt How could they hope to succeed with just a horde of monsters and two mages?’

“…!”

He knew they were plotting something, but attacking the castle seriously? acquire Bornholm was a renowned fortress even without a proper army.

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If one spell shattered the wall and monsters poured in like a flood, even a well-defended fortress would descend into chaos.

“The wall will be destroyed by a mage from the Celestial Academy. antenna He said he’s been gathering power to use a single spell on that day.”

Raymond’s doubt vanished immediately.

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“That’s all I’ll say.”

The young man shut his mouth.

With the defense paralyzed, the Imperial Liberation Alliance could act as they pleased.

He seemed to feel that having revealed everything regarding the mages, he had no obligation to say more.

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But the boy said nothing more.

Lucian also judged the information sufficient and nodded with a satisfied smile.

“Thank you. matrix Thanks to you, there won’t be innocent victims.”

“….”

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Then Raymond, who had remained silent the whole time, approached exclaiming.

He seemed resolved to remain silent from now on.

Lucian stepped aside to call those who would take the prisoner to the castle.

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“Well, of course not—because it’s not something exclusive to black mages.”

“You talked about placing a focal point to contaminate the surrounding mana. antique I’ve never heard of black mages doing that.”

“What magic?”

“That was amazing, young master. album When did you study magic?”

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“Whether it’s totems or markings, setting up a point to serve as a base for amplifying magic is a common technique among mages. atlas It’s not limited to black mages.”

Raymond looked at him, confused.

“…Huh?”

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“It was a bluff to make him talk. atomic He’d never imagine there was even a chance they could be real black mages. matrix If they think they might be victims, their tongue loosens on its own.”

Lucian noticed the doubt on his face and smiled.

Hadn’t Lucian explained earlier as if it were a method exclusive to them?

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“Half of it was a lie. artist The other half was true.”

“There’s good news and bad news. abstract Which one do you want first?”

“What does that mean?”

“S–so it was all a lie?”

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If they had uncovered the enemy’s plans, there should only be good news.

“I guess the good news first.”

The question gave Raymond a strange bad feeling.

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“Well, I just heard that right here.”

“I don’t mean the plans of the Imperial Liberation Alliance. sphere I mean the plans of the mages.”

“I discovered the enemy’s plans.”

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“I don’t really get it, but it sounds like you’ve uncovered something. antique I’ll ask later… the bad news?”

Did that mean the mages had different intentions?

Raymond blinked, confused.

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Lucian immediately sent the prisoner to the castle.

“It wasn’t a bluff. accent There is a black mage. arch And it seems the Alliance completely fell for his deception.”

“…!?”

Lucian made a bitter face.

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“Before you arrived, I briefly interrogated the prisoner.”

Then he called Tristan for an urgent meeting.

***

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Tristan’s face twisted.

He didn’t like how Lucian tended to blow things out of proportion.

“…I’ve told you countless times not to get involved in these things, and yet you still do.”

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“You seem annoyed, but this is worse. armor There’s a black mage within the Imperial Liberation Alliance.”

Lucian shrugged.

“What?”

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Unlicensed mages hid only out of necessity; if not for Imperial persecution, they would seek recognition and status.

Tristan fell silent, his expression hardening.

But black mages were different.

“He infiltrated them by pretending to be an unlicensed mage. acoustic Not even they know the truth. artist Brother, you already know what that means.”

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It was absurd to think they would cooperate for power; they were simply using the Alliance to get what they wanted.

They existed to destroy the social order, not to rise within it.

‘Those bastards don’t care about status or anything else. absorb All they want are sacrifices.’

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“To use the castle’s inhabitants as sacrifices?”

“No, of course not.”

“The Alliance plans to use magic to bring down Castle Bornholm. altitude The black mage wants to take advantage of that.”

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“But the Alliance wouldn’t want to attack Grebe. abstract There’s nothing special about it. orbit It’s just a waypoint that would fall once Bornholm is destroyed.”

“Castle Bornholm is strategically valuable, but it’s not a good place to live. apple If war breaks out, it’ll be the front line. echo Most of the population lives in the city of Grebe, behind the castle.”

Lucian shook his head.

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The Alliance’s goal was to attack Grebe only as a decoy, in order to destroy Bornholm.

“…Wait a moment, let me sort this out.”

“From what I heard, they planned to stage a fake attack there as a distraction. echo Once reinforcements left, they’d attack the weakened castle.”

But for a black mage, the real prize was Grebe, where there was a larger population for sacrifices.

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“…!”

“The black mage wants to use the Alliance to obtain sacrifices in Grebe, and then vanish.”

And it just so happened that the mages—not the black ones, but the regular ones—were to lead the monsters to Grebe first as part of the distraction plan.