Chapter 234

Winds Frontier Lord

"Wonju?"

"Where on earth did you go?"

As Augustine stepped inside, every gaze from the elders swung his way.

He’d slipped out after exiting the mindscape and standing guard over the newly unconscious Elric, saying he had something nearby to take care of—only to return in under ten minutes.

These leeches don’t need to know a thing.

Augustine saw no need to tell the other elders about meeting Belot.

They were meddlesome by nature; they’d swarm him with “advice” and useless chatter. He could see it coming a mile away.

But—

"Hmm...?"

Gility glued himself to Augustine’s side and eyed him oddly.

Sniff sniff. He even took a whiff. What kind of lunatic does that?

Augustine’s face tightened.

"Now what?"

"You’re grinning, big brother. Which means you clearly did something behind our backs."

"What are you babbling...!"

"You think you can fool my nose? Maybe a ghost, but not this nose."

And that set the other elders off.

"What? Something really happened?"

"Wonju! How could you keep secrets from us?"

"You didn’t find another disciple candidate like Elric, did you?"

"Tell us!"

Augustine’s face twisted even more.

Damn it! Not this again!

Why he hated telling the elders anything.

Because of this childish stubbornness.

As if they’d started eating age backwards, these people with an average age past seventy couldn’t stand being bored.

If something looked fun, they’d swarm it and try it themselves; if it didn’t satisfy them, they’d throw fits.

Same with Elric.

It was for the same reason he’d tried to hide Elric to the end.

Passing on the fruits of their life’s research to a worthy successor was their common desire. But because their standards were sky-high, most of them had never taken on a proper disciple.

They knew their work wouldn’t be buried even after death thanks to their contract with House Neresta.

But raising a successor with their own hands was a completely different story.

And then a genius like Elric shows up?

They’d tear the place apart trying to monopolize him, so he’d tried to keep it under wraps no matter what.

Eccentric elder though he was, Augustine also wanted to hog Elric for himself.

But how had that turned out?

In the end, hadn’t those sly old snakes practically snatched Elric away from him?

And now he should let them walk off with a rare toy like Belot too, after finally finding something fun again?

Over his dead body!

-I... want to live quietly.... I want to know the world... and why I live....

Good heavens. A Demon King philosophizing about his raison d'être...!

All the Demon Kings Augustine had seen till now—Hyul among them—had been little more than beasts faithful only to instincts and desire. How could he not be intrigued by this one?

So Augustine let Belot go.

No—he even took measures so that his demonic energy wouldn’t be noticed if he crossed paths with humans.

-This is...?

-Hehehe. A tattoo that masks the nature of your power. With it, even if you walk into a city, no one will sniff out that you’re a Demon King.

-So why... give me this...?

-I think it’ll be fun.

-Fun...?

-I figure the world can stand one Demon King like you roaming free. Of course, not without conditions.

Augustine set two conditions for Belot.

-One: do not harm humans. Two: do not use your crest. If you draw up even a thread of demonic energy, the tattoo I carved into you will disappear along with it.

-That...!

-Your physical strength and power as they are now will remain, so living won’t be an issue. But if you break your word and bare your power... I promise you: this old man will come find you himself and tear that head off your shoulders.

-....

-I know not all demons are the same. I also know, in the end, a demon is a demon. But if you mean to show me you can be more than that—

-wouldn’t that be a fine thing in its own right?

Belot stood there for a long moment, mulling over Augustine’s words, then left without so much as a thank-you.

Augustine didn’t mind.

He knew that was the boy’s own way of wrestling with it.

Heh heh. Let this old man’s eye not be wrong.

The Green Night, which Augustine belonged to, had long shadowed Hyul and nursed a hatred for demons.

Yet because of that, they’d amassed deeper knowledge about demons than anyone.

In the process, Augustine had forged many ties with demons.

His one arm being that of a dark elf was for that very reason.

Throb!

That one looked slow, but the scent he gave off resembled yours. I’d like the outcome to be different this time.

Stroking his arm, Augustine murmured to an old friend who no longer lived in this world.

In any case—

There was no way he could tell these codgers about Belot.

No way!

"Look at him, look at him. The crow’s-feet are all tensed up again. Gentlemen, what shall we do about our Wonju?"

Reading Augustine’s mood, Gility clicked his tongue and glanced around.

The elders widened their eyes and slowly closed in on Augustine.

"If it’s good—"

"—we share it."

"Naturally."

"So."

"Hand it over!"

They shambled toward him like a horde of zombies. Augustine had to consider how best to handle them.

I can’t just blast these old coots away!

He wanted to, badly. But House Neresta’s bylaws strictly forbade disputes among retainers, and that was a lifelong regret.

Not that taking on this many elders at once would be easy even for him.

"He’s awake!"

Sean burst through the door.

There was a wash of relief on his face.

Every eye, Augustine’s included, turned his way.

"Elric is awake!"

Thoughts of Augustine vanished from the elders’ minds.

They surged as one into Elric’s room.

* * *

"His head? How’s the head—most important thing?"

"Aside from mild dizziness, nothing obvious."

"Check more thoroughly! What if there’s residual demonic energy left?"

"I’m already doing it, so stop rushing me!"

"Rushing? Ruuushing? When our precious disciple is lying there, you’re telling me not to ruuush?"

"..."

"Reflexes, motor functions normal! Sympathetic responses look good, and..."

"What about the mana pathways? How are they?"

"T-this!"

"Why? What? What’s wrong?"

"N-no... His magic circuits...! Magic circuits said never to have been seen since the dragon race...! Ooooooh!"

"Dragon blood! He’s got dragon blood, too!"

"Knew it! Our disciple is something else. On that note, mind sparing a vial of serum...?"

"..."

"His eyes? What’s with his eyes? They look a bit cloudy. Can’t focus."

"Weren’t they always like that?"

"Huh? Were they?"

"Our disciple’s always had those sleepy lids."

"..."

Chaos.

No—it had blown past chaos into outright racket.

Since the Elders swarmed “to examine” Elric, the quiet ward had become unbearably noisy.

They kneaded his hands and feet, poked at his circuits with awed murmurs, even tried to draw blood at the side—this was less treatment and more the zeal you see when someone stumbles on a fascinating test subject.

To be fair, in their eyes Elric’s body was a gold mine.

They were veterans who’d lived decades and seen things most people never would, but even to them, a body with awakened dragon blood and a mana stone was curiosity incarnate.

The dragons had been extinct for over a millennium; it would’ve been stranger if their eyes hadn’t popped.

The problem was, Elric was still a patient in absolute need of rest.

And the bigger problem:

That patient was Elric.

Since waking, Elric hadn’t said a word.

Blank face.

He simply watched, expressionless, as the elders fiddled with his limbs.

From the outside, it might look like he was cowed by his masters’ fussing.

But to Sean’s eyes, it was different—like a volcano on the verge of erupting.

Which was why he quietly edged toward the door, just in case.

"Master?"

When Elric finally opened his mouth, every gaze turned to him.

"Did you call me?"

"Yes! Your teacher is here."

"Speak, my boy. Need anything? I’ll bring you the world!"

"Cold? Want a thicker blanket? Hungry? I packed a lunch—want some?"

There was a touch of madness in the elders’ eyes as they tried to crowd into Elric’s field of view.

But—

"..."

Elric didn’t answer any of it.

They realized his gaze was fixed elsewhere and turned in a hurry.

Augustine stood there.

"Ahem! Hem-hem! Very well. Is there something you wish to ask this tea-cher of yours?"

He almost let a goofy grin slip, but held it down, cleared his throat, clasped his hands behind his back, and asked.

Elric gave a small nod.

"Could you get these bothersome people off me?"

Augustine smiled slyly.

The other elders’ faces went stiff.

House Neresta’s bylaws forbade infighting among retainers, but under the pretext of a disciple’s request, taking a swing at these eyesores wouldn’t count as a violation.

"Heh heh heh! Since it’s our disciple’s request, this tea-cher shall oblige."

Rolling up his sleeves, Augustine strode forward.

The elders gritted their teeth and began casting.

"Tch! Wonju! We don’t know what trick you pulled on our cute Elric—"

"—but you can’t monopolize him!"

"This time we’ll peel you off him and reclaim our shares in Elric!"

Clatter!

Rumble, rumblerumble—

They blasted out the window, and the fight between Augustine and the elders kicked off, setting the outside world abuzz.

Inside, it fell quiet as if nothing had happened.

Sean looked at Elric, exasperated.

"You planned that, didn’t you?"

"Of course."

"Sigh."

Realizing Elric now danced on the elders’ heads, Sean could only heave a cavern-deep sigh.

The Mage Who Devoured Talent

Chapter 234 — 윈즈 변경주