Magic Is Learned For Nothing [EN]: Chapter 26

Magic Learned in Vain – 26

# 26

“Welcome! Is this your first time in the human world?”

It’s a historic mansion.

I’d guess it’s about a thousand years old. It was a mansion that wouldn’t budge even in the face of storms or bitter cold. It often sustained glorious wounds while fighting off foreign invasions.

But never before had a corner of the mansion collapsed like this.

At least, not as far as Legion remembers.

And it seems to be near the dining room again. Chef Decarson, who was preparing breakfast, stared in this direction with a thunderstruck expression.

Legion waved his hand.

“How long until breakfast is ready?”

“It will be ready soon, my Lord.”

“Okay, I’ll be there shortly, so please prepare it. Oh, and cover the collapsed wall with cloth. The cold is no joke.”

“Understood, Lord.”

As expected, having lived with Chef Decarson for a long time, we can communicate just by exchanging glances.

Anyway—

Legion glared at Paine with an angry expression.

“What are you going to do about the collapse?”

Paine looked dumbfounded.

“What do you mean, ‘me’?”

“It collapsed because of you.”

“It doesn’t seem to be my fault. Isn’t that monster the cause?”

Paine retorted, quite accurately.

“What are you talking about? She’s family. Ah, her name is Sepia. Sepia. You should say hello too. They’re people from our territory. Well, you probably won’t see them much.”

Legion spoke while looking at Sepia.

Sepia nodded, holding a soldier in one hand and licking his head with her tongue.

—Krrr, krrr (My name is Sepia. I’m Hyung’s [older brother’s] younger sibling. You, if you swing your sword at me again, you’re dead).

Paine, who was receiving Sepia’s murderous aura, took a step back without realizing it.

He was a knight with considerable skill and experience.

In his youth, he had encountered ogres with a few companions. ‘If we get two ogres, how much money would that be?’ He joked with his companions, laughing.

And they were annihilated.

Paine was the only survivor.

That’s when he learned: if you don’t have the skills, don’t act recklessly. Of course, things are clearly different now. He can handle ogres… to some extent…

Nevertheless, he couldn’t rashly charge in.

A subtle sense of unease. It wasn’t just felt from the ogre. Surprisingly, the target was the Lord.

What on earth has happened in the meantime?

The Lord, who was just a brat with a bad temper, now feels very threatening.

“Lord, you… Did you dabble in black magic? To control a monster like that, this territory is doomed if that fact becomes known!”

Paine shouted at Legion with eyes that dripped with as much murderous intent as Paring.

Huh? What’s with him again? Why would I learn black magic? Mark, are you a black magician?

—I’m just a simple AI. That idiot seems to be mistaken on his own.

Right? He’s annoying just to look at. Anyway, what do I do with the house that collapsed because of that bastard?

—Tell him to pay up.

Money? Heh—! Right? If he destroyed it, he has to pay.

“Do you want to die? Or pay for the house? I’ll let you off if you pay just 100 gold!”

Legion asked Paine roughly, staring at him.

“Lord…”

Paine’s gaze became truly fierce.

“Do you really think you can live making such reckless remarks? Just trusting that measly ogre?”

“Measly ogre?”

At the same time, Sepia’s massive body moved.

“Haaaap!”

Paine also poured all his strength into his sword. Tremendous power was contained in the sword. He moved like lightning in an instant, charging towards Sepia.

* * *

“What? You don’t have money?”

Paine was being lifted up and down by Sepia, who had grabbed him by the collar. It seemed all his will to fight had disappeared. The others couldn’t close their gaping mouths at the sudden conclusion of their battle.

“Why did you break someone else’s house if you don’t have money!”

“Ugh, th-that, I didn’t do it…”

“This bastard is talking nonsense again.”

Sepia grabbed Paine by the collar and spun him around in the air a few times. Paine was on the verge of losing consciousness.

What should I do?

—Get a promissory note.

A promissory note?

—Since he destroyed the mansion, make him write when he will pay the money, and if he doesn’t pay, you’ll seize his assets. Have him sign it. If he doesn’t pay, he’s dead. Ah, is the curse spirit that the Orc shaman used on you still there?

I don’t know. They say it appears when summoned, but I’ve never called it.

The Orc shaman had released the curse spirit attached to Legion’s body. But the curse spirit clung tightly to Legion’s body and wouldn’t fall off.

The Orc shaman asked.

‘Why are you attached to him?’

The curse spirit replied.

—This man is surrounded by tremendous misfortune. Even if I stay still, I become so unhappy that I’m happy. I’ll be with this man for the time being.

Legion was staring with both eyes wide open, and it was spouting such nonsense. Legion was about to say he didn’t like it, but it had already stuck to him and wouldn’t come off.

He really wouldn’t have tolerated it if it weren’t for the incredible mithril [a strong, magical metal].

Anyway, since then, the curse spirit had been hovering around Legion.

—Use that guy. He has to earn his keep, right?

Oho, right. That’s right.

Legion smiled and nodded.

* * *

“Yes, yes. Sign here.”

Legion held out a paper with Paine’s name written on it. Paine grabbed the pen. His hand trembled.

This is humiliation.

How can this humiliation be expressed in words?

“Please sign, customer,” Legion said softly in a coaxing voice. Paine flinched every time he spoke.

Paine glanced at Sepia.

—Krrr (What are you glaring at).

Paine was startled and lowered his head.

Is that really an ogre? Can ogres be that strong?

The ogre in his memory wasn’t as strong as Sepia in front of him. That ogre was definitely bigger than Sepia, though.

He saw a monster that blades didn’t even work on for the first time.

Sepia deflected the blade he created with her shoulder.

After that, several cuts were blocked by the back of her hand. This was no match at all. The ogre twisted her lips with a sneer. It was a clear mockery.

You’re weak.

And then she ran over and body-checked him.

That was the end. His memory was cut off, so he didn’t even know what happened. When he woke up, his face was a mess. He heard from Paring that he was grabbed by the ankles and slammed to the ground.

And then he was grabbed by the collar and went back and forth, going to that sky and then to this sky…

‘It’s amazing you’re alive. As expected, a knight’s body is amazing.’

After hearing those words, he felt like his whole body was breaking. He realized he had barely survived.

And Shalom, whose face was also smashed and kneeling.

A longtime friend and life partner. He would give his life for him. That’s probably why.

Shalom had rushed at the ogre when he was in danger. The result was this mess. He was hit about three times, and his face was unrecognizable.

Paine read the contents of the document.

—Paine, the debtor, owes 200 gold to Legion, the creditor.

Wh-what? Why 200 gold? Wasn’t it 100 gold?

He looked at Legion.

“What are you looking at? Ah, why 200 gold? The negotiation broke down. You should have accepted the first offer of 100 gold. So it’s 200 gold. This is the winner’s rightful claim.”

That bastard. Is he really a noble? Or an evil loan shark?

“This is fair. It’s in the kingdom’s legal code. You must repay the money you borrowed. The interest rate is subject to agreement between both parties.”

Was there such a law?

Paine bit his lip tightly.

He had only trained in swordsmanship his whole life, so he didn’t even know that such a law existed.

Of course, Legion doesn’t know either.

He just threw out random words. If not, so be it. Fortunately, Paine also seems to know nothing.

Paine had no choice but to sign the document with trembling fingers. His wife and two sons at home came to his mind. If he sold all his assets, he could somehow raise 200 gold.

But if he paid all the money to the Lord, where would they go?

They might end up on the streets.

Legion had a satisfied expression after receiving the signature. And he handed the document to Shalom.

“Wh-what is this?”

Shalom clearly witnessed Paine falling into despair. He was horrified when Paine handed him the signed document.

“I-I didn’t break anything.”

“Joint guarantee.”

“J-Joint guarantee? What is that?”

“You don’t even know that?”

Shalom shook his head. He doesn’t know. He’s hearing that word for the first time.

In fact, Legion doesn’t know either.

Mark told him to get a joint guarantee while he was at it, so he found out. It’s definitely a very good system from the perspective of someone receiving money.

“If he doesn’t pay, you pay instead.”

“Wh-why me?”

“You two are friends, right? Or are you just colleagues? On the surface, you sing ‘we’re friends,’ but behind your backs, you curse each other?”

“N-No.”

“If not, sign it. Your friendship is famous even within the territory. You even decided to have your children marry each other when they grow up. Was that just talk?”

“That’s not true. Don’t insult our friendship.”

“Then sign it. Here, just do it here.”

Shalom grabbed the pen.

Honestly, he didn’t want to sign. If Paine couldn’t pay, he would have to pay instead. How could he tell his wife this? But if he didn’t sign, their friendship would become a lie.

It was a dilemma.

“Oh, you’re hesitating. Did you see that, Paine? Shalom’s friendship was just words.”

“No, I’ll do it. I’ll do it.”

Shalom ended up signing the document that Legion handed him.

Legion grinned. Done. Black smoke flowed from his chest and entered Paine and Shalom’s bodies.

They were startled and stepped back.

“Don’t be surprised. It’s the spirit of promise.”

—Wow, is it okay to disguise the curse spirit like that?

Shut up.

“If you keep your promise, the spirit will return to me. But if you break your promise…”

Legion drew his thumb across his neck and added.

“You’ll end your life having nightmares.”

He carefully folded the document and put it in his chest.

Ah, he’s a devil. This guy is a devil. That’s what Paine and Shalom thought.

Can a person’s personality completely change in such a short time? No. It seems he was originally like this.

Come to think of it, he had a really nasty temper since he was young. They just ignored him because he was weak.

Legion turned his head towards Julian the Vice Count and Paring.

Their faces are quite a sight to see.

Red and blue.

Paring was so angry that the blood vessels in his eyes seemed about to burst.

But they couldn’t rashly attack Legion. The overwhelming pressure of Sepia, who was blocking them, was considerable. It wouldn’t be a problem to kill him if they stepped forward, but the Lord had already announced it in front of the people.

That he thought of him as a younger brother.

If they accidentally killed the ogre, they could end up in the same situation as trying to kill the Lord.

The knights playing around with the Lord as a joke could somehow be handled with Julian’s background, but Julian himself couldn’t step forward for that reason.

So he glanced at Paring…

No, no!

He was shaking his head.

He wasn’t sure if his magic would work on that ogre. Weren’t the fast and strong Paine and Shalom beaten like dogs? He would die if he got hit even once.

Legion gestured to Rohas, who was looking at this place from inside the mansion.

My legs hurt. Bring a chair.

Rohas, who noticed Legion’s gesture, quickly brought a chair.

Legion sat down and crossed his legs.

“Paring.”

“…”

Paring clenched his teeth and didn’t answer.

“You son of a bitch, you’re so rude. Uncle, I didn’t like that bastard from before, can I execute him?”

“What nonsense are you talking about?”

Julian the Vice Count swallowed his anger and barely answered.

“You saw it, right? How arrogant that bastard is. He’s really too rude. I just called him, but he’s just pretending not to notice. Isn’t this complete insult to the nobility?”

“He probably didn’t hear it.”

“Really? Even though we’re this close?”

“Paring doesn’t have good hearing.”

“Ah.”

Legion’s lips twisted.

I’m going to dispose of them all anyway… but now is not the time. I needed a justification to deal with them perfectly at once.

Just get caught once, you bastards.

“Hey, Paring.”

Legion called Paring again.

“Why… are you calling…”

“Look at that bastard. The Lord is calling him, but he says ‘why are you calling.’ Uncle, no matter how I look at it, that’s a crime of insulting the nobility. You definitely heard it. It’s okay to execute him now, right?”

At Legion’s words, Sepia’s massive body moved.

Paring couldn’t handle that overwhelming murderous aura at all. His face turned as pale as a sheet of paper.

“Why… are you doing this?”

Paring barely managed to squeeze out a voice. It was a faint voice.

“You definitely said you live in the Minotaur’s mountain, right?”

“That’s right.”

“Then bring 5,000 gold.”

“Wh-what? 1,000 gold is enough.”

“Ah, 1,000 gold? But that son of a bitch threw a hundred gold note at me?”

“N-No. That is.”

Legion jumped up from his seat. He strode towards Paring and kicked him in the stomach.

Thwack!

Paring, who was hit in the stomach, fell forward.

He immediately raised his head. His eyes were full of murderous intent.

“Oh, you little shit. Look at this bastard.”

Legion kicked Paring’s face with his foot. Paring’s neck twisted from the face kick.

Blood spurted from his mouth.

He lit the fuse in his eyes again, raised his head, and hit him a few more times. Until he lowered his eyes.

“Ah, I really don’t like this bastard.”

Legion ruffled his short hair. And he turned his head to Julian the Vice Count and shouted.

“Uncle, let’s just execute this bastard. Your reputation will only be ruined if you have a bastard like this next to you.”

“I’ll take care of that myself. More than that…”

Legion interrupted Julian the Vice Count, who was grinding his teeth and about to speak.

“Did you come because of Zenon?”

“Yes, you definitely know about him.”

“I know.”

“Where is he?”

“He got married.”