Magic Is Learned For Nothing [EN]: Chapter 45

The Loser’s Counterattack (2)

“H-He’s a mage, alright.”

“Really?”

This time, the other mercenaries looked at Mizzer with surprised expressions. It was an absurd sight. Mages doing road repair work en masse?

“Are they, like, 1st Circle Workers?”

“Well, I’m not sure, but judging from their use of gravity magic, they seem to be at least 2nd Circle (overall combat power 150~400)…”

“2nd Circle?”

“Yes.”

Magic is difficult to get into, but once you do, most people have no trouble mastering the 1st Circle. Almost 99% make it to the final stage, so if you can’t master the 1st Circle, it’s like admitting you’re an idiot.

But the 2nd Circle is a different story.

According to statistics compiled by the Royal Magic Academy, about 67 percent of students give up without breaking through the 2nd Circle.

Naturally, the 3rd Circle is much more difficult.

About 60 percent of students who pass the 2nd Circle remain 3rd Circle Workers. It was known that less than 20 percent of students become 3rd Circle Masters.

In other words, those doing menial labor there were mages with unremarkable abilities.

But all the laborers are mages?

Does that make sense?

That’s why the mercenaries couldn’t believe the situation.

“Wasn’t your friend the only mage here?”

Haimo asked Mizzer.

“As far as I know, yes.”

“Then who are they?”

“I have no idea?”

“Damn it, ‘I don’t know’ is all you can say? Something’s weird here. Who requested this job?”

“Yeah, it’s a close guy named Perring. The content is to get rid of the lord here, but it seems like nothing special. He’s just a brat with a bad personality or something, so he doesn’t want to get his hands dirty.”

“Is that so? Then why do I feel so dirty?”

“And those guys, well, they look useful, but they’re the type to stay at that level. Don’t worry too much. It’s nothing special.”

Haimo nodded.

“If that’s the case, that’s a relief. Anyway, shall we go meet this Perring?”

Haimo moved. The other mercenaries, who had been tense for a moment, followed him.

* * *

Bacon was dumbfounded.

Why are people people? If they have eyes, they should be able to see and think for themselves, right?

He stared at the five men and women walking through the road construction site.

“Who are these guys?”

Lotto came and asked.

Usually, the townspeople would bring water when they were working hard, bring towels to wipe their sweat, say a word of encouragement, and go around so as not to interfere with the work…

These bastards were stepping on the unfinished road and messing it up.

Are they trying to pick a fight?

“I don’t know, but… they don’t seem to be from around here?”

“How can you be so sure?”

“If they were from around here, they wouldn’t treat us like this.”

“I guess so… right?”

The servants had already memorized most of the faces of the people coming and going. Judging from their appearance, they were the type who had been in a lot of fights, and if there were guys like that in the territory, there’s no way they wouldn’t know.

“Then what is it? Are they deliberately trying to screw with us?”

Bacon called out to the mercenaries walking on the road.

“Hey, you guys.”

The mercenaries didn’t stop. It seemed they didn’t think they were being called.

“Hey, you bald guy.”

Bacon called out to the mercenaries again.

The mercenary leader, Haimo, paused. The title he hated most was ‘bald’. Who wants to be bald? His father and grandfather were bald. He never wanted to inherit it, but in the end, he did.

“Huh! This… it’s been a while since I’ve lost my temper. You called me bald without any fear…”

Haimo looked at Bacon.

Oh?

He’s bald too.

If a bastard calls another bald person bald, doesn’t he know how heartbreaking it is for the bald person?

“I did call, but… is the fearless bastard referring to me?”

Bacon pointed to himself with his index finger as if he was dumbfounded.

“Yes, I hate that title very much.”

“That title? Ah, bald. If you don’t want to be called that… you should know some manners. Don’t you think so, Mr. Baldy?”

“Manners?”

Haimo and the mercenaries’ eyebrows twitched.

“Can’t you see we’re doing construction here?”

“So?”

“You’re stepping on it, so we have to fix it again.”

“Just fix it.”

“Damn it, you don’t understand. I’m telling you to get out of the road and walk. Just avoid the construction site.”

Haimo chuckled.

“I don’t want to. Why should we divide the perfectly good road and walk on an uncomfortable path?”

Frustration clouded Bacon’s face. They should have just left when he was being nice. These bastards.

“Ah, these guys really have no consideration.”

Bacon spat. Then he sighed deeply and waved his hand.

“Just go, go. What’s the point of teaching you guys anything.”

Bacon’s face clearly showed that he didn’t even want to talk to them anymore because they weren’t even human. Haimo and the mercenaries’ faces hardened at his actions.

A murderous aura flickered in their eyes.

“Where do these bastards think they are trying to mess with people!”

Haimo took out his axe.

The other mercenaries also took out their weapons. The atmosphere was as if they would cut off the servants’ heads at any moment.

“What are you talking about? These idiots.”

At that moment-

The mercenaries were startled.

More than hundreds of fireballs were appearing above their heads.

It was an enormous number.

* * *

“What the hell are those guys?”

Steel, limping towards Perring’s mansion, kept looking back. Ptooey! His jaw was numb, and when he spat out the pooled blood, a few white teeth came out with it.

Those were some damn painful fireballs.

Twenty-five mages…

That’s almost a magic battalion.

No one answered Steel’s words. The other mercenaries had also racked their brains, but they couldn’t think of anything about their identity.

“This territory… is too strange.”

The mercenaries nodded at Haimo’s words. Haimo’s beard was completely singed. The rogue Steel’s cherished leather clothes were burned.
The mage Mizzer’s robe was also tattered.

Mages acting as laborers.

“Should we just go back?”

The four shook their heads at Haimo’s words.

Did he mean to pass in front of those guys again? That was something they really didn’t want to do.

It was then.

Thump-

A loud reverberation that shook their entire bodies was heard.

Thump- Thump-

It was heard again. The mercenaries raised their heads. It was a sound coming from beyond a shallow hill in front of them. It was similar to the sound of hooves, but the intensity of the vibration was much more intense and deeper.

The mercenaries looked at each other. What is this sound?

Thump- Thump- Thump- Thump-

The reverberation repeats regularly.

“What is it? What’s over there?”

Steel pulled out his dagger.

The other mercenaries also unconsciously grabbed their weapons. An enormous murderous aura was felt beyond the hill. It was a murderous aura that even the mercenaries who had experienced all kinds of hardships could rarely experience.

“What is it this time?”

The mage Mizzer also took out her staff and chanted a magic spell. She prepared an attack spell so that she could use it at any time.

The archer Hayler, who hadn’t said a word until now, also took out his bow and nocked an arrow. Half of his head was also burned to a crisp.

Thump- Thump- Thump.

Finally, the source of the murderous aura revealed itself.

“T-That’s?”

Everyone was surprised.

An ogre had appeared. Furthermore, the ogre was wearing armor. It was the first time they knew that an ogre could wear armor and roam within a territory where humans lived.

“Damn it, what crazy bastard put armor on an ogre? Everyone run away! We can’t beat him with our strength while he’s wearing armor!”

Steel shouted urgently.

Everyone agreed.

“Mizzer!”

At Haimo’s urgent cry, Mizzer unleashed the attack magic she had prepared.

“Fire Blast!”

When she shook her staff, a powerful explosion occurred right in front of the ogre’s nose. Clouds of dust rose up.

“Arrow Rain!”

Hayler fired an arrow towards the high sky.

Surprisingly, the arrow that flew into the sky turned into dozens of arrows. It wasn’t an illusion, the arrow really split. The dozens of divided arrows poured down on the ogre buried in the dust.

“T-This can’t be. It’s impossible.”

Haimo trembled.

The opponent is an ogre. They are ferocious and strong, so much so that they are said to be the strongest predators on land. But still… they have low intelligence, and they are not impossible to catch…

That ogre…

“How the hell is an ogre using martial arts?”

Haimo screamed in astonishment.

He slightly deflected Mizzer’s attack to the side, and this time he dodged the arrow rain by moving back and forth. He even rolled. Is that possible for an ogre?

He attacked Hayler first.

In just two steps, he closed the distance. And a body check.

Hayler’s cherished bow was broken. There was no time to regret that the bow was broken. Because Hayler, who had been hit hard on the shoulder by the ogre, flew dozens of meters.

Steel quickly fled into the air.

Unlike the other mercenaries, he can leap into the air several times. It’s a near-miraculous footwork, but…

“H-High kick?”

Steel’s face was completely crushed by the ogre’s high kick and he was slammed into the floor.

“I’ll kill you!”

The bravest knight, Buffalo, was the most miserably destroyed.

The ogre kicked him away. It wasn’t even visible where Buffalo flew to.

“Damn it, you monster!”

Haimo swung his axe with all his might. It was a technique named ‘Hurricane’ because his colleagues said it was like a storm.

His attack was blocked by the yawning ogre.

Ah, ogres yawn too. Does that mean he’s bored?

Haimo was stamped on by the ogre’s palm and stuck to the floor. It’s a miracle that he didn’t die even though his internal organs were ruptured.

“Ugh, this is a dream. I can’t believe it.”

Only Mizzer was intact. She was far away, but she couldn’t even cast her second spell. She was too shocked.

But the ogre just passed her by.

And behind the ogre, a short man who looked like a pig also passed by. The man stared at Mizzer. He shook his head and sighed.

Who the hell is this bastard?

For some reason-

Mizzer hated that fat man more than the ogre. Mizzer felt an intense murderous intent towards him.

* * *

The badly injured mercenaries gathered at Perring’s mansion. Seeing their injured appearance, Perring generously used the potions from the temple that he had been saving.

Thanks to this, the mercenaries’ wounds were able to heal quite quickly.

Tap, tap.

Perring put wood into the fireplace.

The weakened flames came back to life. Warmth began to circulate in the living room. The mercenaries were all drinking strong whiskey.

“Now you know why I, a 4th Circle Worker, asked you for help, right?”

Perring said. Then he filled his glass with whiskey. He looked at the mercenaries whose faces were still swollen. After shaking his head once, he let out a long sigh.

His expression seemed to say, ‘You guys won’t do.’

Haimo, who read his expression, felt his emotions surge.

“We were careless.”

“Careless?”

“Yes. We have caught ogres before. But we didn’t expect ogres to be roaming around in the territory. No one, not even us, would have expected it.”

“It’s just an excuse anyway.”

“It’s an excuse, but… I won’t make this mistake again.”

“But I’m not very confident. To be honest, I thought it was nothing special, but lately I’ve seen that the lord has quite different skills. Twenty-five mysterious servants, an ogre, and a mage teacher who taught magic to the servants. I’m also curious about this person’s identity.”

“Mysterious teacher?”

“Yes. I think he is the one who taught magic to the lord. He is also the one who taught magic to the twenty-five men.”

“W-Wait a minute. The lord is also a mage?”

“Yes, but…”

“What Circle user is he?”

Perring thought about Legion for a moment.

At first, he thought he was a 1st Circle Master, but now he honestly couldn’t gauge his skills.

A 1st Circle mage cannot command and control twenty-five 3rd Circle mages. He also controls the mind of the ogre. It was truly a demonic ability.

The scariest thing is that that’s not all of it.