Chapter 93

The Marquess Family's Magic Genius - Chapter 94 (93/324)

94

As I approached the boys, all five of them knelt down.

"Lord!"

"Who's your lord?"

"……"

"Didn't you guys run away yesterday?"

At my blunt question, the boys, who had been wearing perplexed expressions, bowed their heads to the ground. Soon, one of them, who seemed to be the leader, a senior gladiator, spoke up.

"Forgive us! It happened so suddenly... We were caught off guard! That's why we did it!"

"Then, why are you back?"

The way they were rolling their eyes suggested they were about to beg for one last chance.

"…It was a momentary mistake… If you give us one last chance…"

Well, well.

My guess was right.

What a bunch of despicable guys.

If you're going to run, just keep going.

What's the point of coming back half-heartedly?

After a moment of thought, an idea flashed through my mind.

"Did you hear something?"

"…What do you mean…?"

"I heard that I'm going to teach sword techniques and mental training to the survivors. Did you hear that?"

"No… No, we didn't."

Don't give me that.

Eyes never lie.

The way they were rolling their eyes clearly showed they had heard it from somewhere.

They were typical opportunists.

I thought I had filtered out most of them, but apparently, that wasn't enough.

I chuckled and looked at the gladiators.

"Hey."

"…."

"Do I look like an easy target to you?"

"Absolutely not!"

"Then why are you back? Did you think I'd take you back after you ran away?"

"…."

"I clearly told you. When it's a matter of life and death, you're free to run. But I told you to think twice. I said, if you make that choice, you won't have a future. You're not needed, so get lost."

I had no intention of taking back such scum.

Just as I was about to enter the annex, ignoring them,

"Lord! Lord!"

One of the gladiators reached out to grab my arm.

That's not a good idea.

The two knights standing by me weren't there for nothing.

Swish!

Leonhard and Saron.

The one who drew his sword was Saron.

His expression instantly turned cold as he swung his sword.

"Kyaah!"

The sword strike was like a flash of light.

In an instant, one of the gladiators, his wrist cut, clutched his hand and rolled on the ground.

A yellow puddle formed between the legs of the gladiator whose wrist was severed.

Why do you try to touch someone's body so casually?

Saron, now expressionless, looked at the gladiators.

"The young master did not permit you to approach him."

"Ugh… Ugh…"

Saron met my eyes as he looked at the trembling gladiators.

"Young master, should I kill them all?"

His chilling question made the five gladiators' eyes fill with fear.

They finally realized the situation was completely different from what they had expected.

I thought for a moment about Saron's question.

Do I really need to kill these scum?

Even if I just scare them off, there won't be any serious consequences.

I didn't want to spill blood in the annex.

Shaking my head at Saron, I looked at the gladiators and said quietly,

"If you ran to save your lives, you should have kept running."

"…."

I gave a definitive answer to the boys who dared not respond.

"From now on, don't ever show your faces to me again. If I see you again, I might really kill you. I don't have the mercy to save trash like you multiple times. This is your last warning. Now, go."

The gladiators hurriedly left at my words.

Someone was watching their retreating backs.

It was Saron.

* * * * *

Gilliam, clutching his arm, barely managed to escape the castle and looked at his right wrist, which was gone.

The situation was so urgent that he didn't even have time to take his severed wrist with him when he fled.

The five gladiators hurriedly hid in a deserted area.

After a while, they finally caught their breath and regained some composure.

The first to speak was Gilliam, whose wrist was severed.

"…Damn it…! Those bastards!"

"…Gilliam. What are you going to do now? You said he would take us back! Damn it!"

"Shut up! Who would have thought this would happen? That crazy Saron!"

"Huh…"

"Damn it. Just a noble brat… Pfft!"

Kyle Seltarion.

Gilliam spat on the ground, thinking of the boy.

One of the gladiators, looking at Gilliam with regret, said,

"Damn it…! I didn't think he would really teach us sword techniques and mental training…"

"Shit. Who knew? I thought it was just sweet talk from the noble brats!"

"What are we going to do now? It's because of you, Gilliam, that we ran away!"

The four gladiators looked at Gilliam, the ringleader, with resentful eyes.

"…You bastards… You agreed because you wanted to live too!"

"…."

He glared at them and tried to intimidate them, and they lowered their heads.

Looking at the gladiators, he spoke.

"…First, we need to get some money to survive, and then we need to leave this city. This is the noble's territory, after all."

"…How are we going to get money?"

"Let's sell information. And take our revenge."

The secrets of the Marquess family.

And the strength of the annex.

There was an abundance of information to sell.

Most information organizations are located in the slums, so we can go there to sell the information.

Gilliam, smiling wickedly, slowly nodded, and the other four followed suit.

Just as the gladiators were about to move,

Thud.

The sound of footsteps reached their ears.

Turning their heads naturally toward the sound, they saw a familiar face.

"…!"

It was Saron.

He looked at the five gladiators.

'Worse than beasts.'

The illegal fighting ring was like hell.

I had taken them out of there and provided them with more than enough support to live comfortably. But they didn't even think about the favor they had received from their lord.

My lord was so merciful that he had saved even such scum multiple times.

'My lord forgave them, but I did not.'

If I let these scum live, they might become obstacles to my lord's future.

It was my duty as his loyal sword to dirty my hands, not my kind lord's.

"…Aaah! C… Captain!"

"My merciful lord saved your lives twice. Once when you ran away, and once when he stopped me."

Saron.

His eyes glowed with a fierce light.

He had definitely heard their conversation.

A sword-crazy demon!

This killer would never let them live.

The moment he drew his sword, all their heads would roll.

Gilliam started to run frantically.

Swish!

The sound of a sword being drawn came from behind.

It was a terrifying sound.

"But there won't be a third time."

After his low voice, the heads of the fleeing gladiators started to fly into the air one by one.

"Ugh… Ugh!"

Hearing the screams from behind, Gilliam, who was running at the front, sped up.

But the speed of the sword demon was too fast.

It was a speed that gladiators without aura could never match.

In the end, the one running at the front was also caught by Saron.

Gilliam, cornered, shouted desperately.

"…Isn't life a series of three chances? Just one more time…!"

Thud!

It was the last words of the remaining gladiator.

* * * * *

Ten days had passed since the rebellion. The inner castle, which had been painted with blood, was gradually returning to its original color.

The same was true for the people within the family.

They had overcome the adversity and were once again moving busily.

Indeed, time is a great healer.

During this period, there were quite a few changes.

One of the biggest changes was

Puff!

Ersiel summoning a spirit near me.

Since Adolph was gone, there was no need to hide the spirit anymore. Besides, the rumor that she could summon a spirit had already spread throughout the family.

While Puff could hide from people of a certain level and below, it wouldn't work for higher levels.

Jacob, Malon, and Kraft.

The top-tier knights on the dais wouldn't have missed it, nor would the mid-tier knights.

I asked them to keep the rumor as quiet as possible, but

Honestly, I didn't think it would last long.

'If only a few people had seen it.'

Since it was already half-public, and the villains within the family had been thoroughly eliminated,

I told her to summon it freely.

Increasing interaction with the spirit is the way a spirit mage trains.

As I watched the spirit, Ersiel tilted her head.

"Lord?"

"Ah. I just find the creature interesting. By the way, are you still calling it Ashiris?"

"Yes, it's the name of this child."

"Isn't it hard to say?"

"Name? What do you mean?"

"I mean the name. It might be better to call it something more casual."

"I never thought about that…"

"Then, you don't have a nickname for it?"

"Yes."

"Can I give it one?"

She nodded at my words.

I already had a nickname in mind.

"Hey."

Puff!

"From now on, I'll just call it Puff. Is that okay?"

Puff!!

The spirit trembled at my words.

It started flapping its wings violently. Could it be…

Does it not like it?

There's no better name that fits it.

The name Ashiris is too grand for such a small creature.

Puff is a much more endearing name.

"Ha…"

Ersiel burst into laughter at my words.

"Does it not like it?"

"Just a moment."

As I waited, her expression gradually brightened.

It seemed Puff had given a positive response.

"It likes it."

"Ah, really? I was worried it might be angry. Does it really like it?"

As I finished speaking,

Puff trembled all over.

Puff!!?

It seemed to be a positive signal.

What a dramatic way to express emotions.

"Then, I'll call it Puff from now on."

Puff!

It seems to love it.

"By the way, Ersiel."

"Yes, Lord."

"Your status is still a commoner, right?"

I had bought her at a slave auction, but I hadn't branded her with the slave mark.

Originally, a slave's status would only be officially lowered after the mark was branded and the slave contract was signed.

So, she was a commoner.

She nodded at my words.

"Yes."

"I plan to change you to a minor noble soon, so be prepared."

"…Yes?"

"You did a great job this time, so you deserve a reward. I've already talked to my eldest brother. I also plan to elevate Saron to a minor noble."

They were my direct subordinates and played significant roles in the rebellion.

To be honest, Saron only did about one person's worth of work, but

Isn't that what connections and power are for?

In the past ten days, I had given Abel three modified sword techniques out of the six I had.

Naturally, Abel didn't refuse my request.

With my influence, elevating Saron to a minor noble was no problem.

Give and take.

A truly excellent phrase.

"…Really?"

"Yeah, why would I lie to you?"

"…I can't believe it… Isn't the number of people who can be elevated to minor nobles limited in each family?"

That was true.

The royal family allocated a certain number of people each family could elevate to minor nobles every year.

The Marquess family could elevate 600 people.

Considering that the Emlton Duke family, one of the most prominent families in the empire, could elevate 800 people, 600 was a considerable number.

Many weak baron families couldn't even get twenty people allocated per year.

'So, we need to recover our strength quickly.'

The Marquess family's secrets were gradually spreading throughout the empire. Despite our efforts to keep them hidden, the true extent of the damage would soon be known.

It was too big of an event to be completely concealed. Even if we downplayed it, people would still think we had lost about 30% of our strength.

This would inevitably reduce our influence. While we wouldn't be treated like a toothless tiger immediately due to our long-standing prestige, if we didn't recover quickly, it could happen.

'The number of minor nobles we can elevate next year might also decrease.'

Humans tend to kick a person when they're down.

"Is your training going well?"

"Yes. I can summon the spirit much more often now, so it seems my spirit power is accumulating faster."

"I plan to create a magic circle to help with your training soon."

"A magic circle?"

"Yeah. If you train on it, your spirit power will accumulate much faster. You'll also be able to strengthen your connection with the spirit."

She tilted her head at my words and asked,

"Are you talking about a spirit training circle, Lord?"

"Yeah, you know about it?"

"Yes, I read about it in a book. It's made using spirit stones, but… it's not necessary for you to draw it for my training. The book said it's a half-forgotten magic circle because the efficiency is very low compared to the spirit stones used. There's no need for you to draw such a magic circle for my training…"

"It's fine. The one I plan to draw will improve on its flaws. So, don't worry."

Spirit stones.

They are quite rare, like mana stones, but not as valuable. If they were as valuable as mana stones, I wouldn't have been able to ask the Marquess for a high-grade spirit stone when I summoned Ersiel's spirit.

Mana stones are used in many ways, such as activating magic items and creating artifacts.

Spirit stones, on the other hand, have limited uses.

They are used in spirit magic circles to summon spirits or to call higher-level spirits later.

While they are somewhat valuable,

'They're not that special.'

The main users of spirit stones are spirit mages.

But spirit mages are not a common profession on the continent.

The supply is low, but the demand is even lower.

Despite the relatively easy availability of spirit stones, the reason I hadn't drawn a training circle for her until now was simple.

Ersiel.

Her proficiency was too low.

If she entered a spirit training circle with low proficiency,

'She might suffer a critical failure.'

The training circle I designed, enhanced with my magical knowledge, was much more efficient but also increased the pressure.

Entering it unprepared would be disastrous.

The magic circle I used when I reached the second circle was similar.

I had used a mid-grade mana stone to control the influx of mana, but unfortunately, the spirit training circle lacked that function.

She would have to withstand the overwhelming influx of spirit power.

I didn't want to risk losing her, so I had held back until now.

'But now, it should be fine.'

After nearly two months of interacting with the spirit, she was ready to use the training circle.

Her talent was that exceptional.

It was time to help her fully bloom.

With the knowledge I had, it was entirely possible.