Magic Is Learned For Nothing [EN]: Chapter 55

Magic is Learned in Vain – Episode 55 (55/502)

# 55

Don’t Go To That Village, Sir! 1

Inside the tavern.

Legion looked at the thirty men kneeling before him.

They had been beaten so badly that their original faces were unrecognizable. He glared at Sepia, who was huddled in a corner, drinking. Sensing Legion’s gaze, Sepia flinched.

“Don’t beat them so much. What is this?”

Legion said.

-Krr, Krr (They kicked down the door and caused a ruckus. They said they would kill us. I didn’t want to die, so I beat them).

Who’s going to kill who? It’s enough to make one laugh.

“Hey, even so, you should beat them so you can still recognize their faces. I don’t know who’s who.”

-Krr (I understand, bro. Next time, I’ll focus on the torso).

“Yeah, yeah. You’re a smart brother. Next time, break their arms and legs. Try not to hit their faces if you can.”

-Krr (Got it, bro).

Legion smiled and turned his gaze to the kneeling mercenaries. He kindly poured them each a drink. It’s said that there’s always a way out, even when the sky falls, and this seemed like the perfect time to use that saying.

Thirty mercenaries.

As mercenaries, they had sturdy bodies.

Thirty potential grooms that the Orcs wanted.

He could now offer the first batch. With this, the Abrinium [a valuable mineral] that Jonas showed me would be mine. Awesome!

Bowl and the mercenaries, unaware of Legion’s thoughts, were moved.

Such warm kindness to those who had tried to raid the village. They forced back tears as they drank the liquor Legion poured.

“So, where were we? Ah, you said you came from the Persimmon County, right?”

Legion asked.

“Yes. We came from the Persimmon County.”

Persimmon County, his family certainly belonged to it. But he had never met the Earl of Persimmon. He didn’t know about his father, but since he became the lord, there had been no contact at all.

He would have to see him once to get notarization during the coming-of-age ceremony in the summer.

“What did you come for?”

“We were told to investigate the Mithril mine.”

“Then you should have investigated. Why did you raid our territory?”

“That, that’s…”

“That’s what?”

“To get information easily…”

Bowl’s voice trailed off.

“Ah, really? To get information? So, if you thought you could handle it, you would have stabbed the territory residents with swords, broken things, set fires, right? Oh, and stripped the women.”

“…That’s.”

Not only Bowl, but the mercenaries’ expressions also hardened. The atmosphere was getting worse.

“Live kindly, live kindly. Why do you live like that?”

The atmosphere was getting better again. Bowl smiled at Legion. If you let us go, we will live kindly in the future.

“Yeah, is that what you’re going to do?”

“Yes?”

“Yeah, you have to live with that mindset. Good thinking. Okay, take off your clothes.”

“Yes?”

“I said take off your clothes. Hey, Bacon!”

“Yes, Master.”

“What’s the temperature outside right now?”

“It’s warm today.”

“So, how much?”

“It’s -20 degrees Celsius.”

“Perfect. Take these guys outside and give them some PT [physical training].”

“PT?”

“Yeah.”

“Hehehe, I understand. PT is my specialty.”

Bacon and the exclusive servants took the mercenaries who invaded the territory outside with very joyful expressions.

Soon, the mercenaries’ desperate screams continued for two hours.

* * *

Shudder, shudder-

Bowl and the mercenaries’ faces turned pale.

It was not easy to endure -20 degrees Celsius unless you were from the Arctic Island Kingdom.

But that bald bastard started rolling them in the snow, leaving only their underwear. That alone made them want to die, but then he started pouring water on them. Wow! They felt like their minds were turning completely white.

Some fainted while receiving PT or torture.

An even more brutal thing happened here.

The strange magic warriors splashed cold water on their faces, saying they were waking up their comrades.

The only reason they were still alive without freezing to death was purely due to God’s grace. A time of suffering that would have killed them ten times over had passed them by.

Legion was sitting in a chair, drinking warm black tea.

“Oh, you’ve suffered a lot. Here.”

He poured each of the mercenaries a glass of strong whiskey.

The mercenaries didn’t even have the energy to get angry. No, they were very grateful for the lord’s warm words.

They just hoped he wouldn’t kick them out again.

They swallowed the strong whiskey in one gulp. Their stomachs tingled. Heat slightly returned to their freezing bodies.

Ah, we’re alive.

“Isn’t it cold outside?”

Legion asked Bowl.

“It’s a little cold.”

“Ah, right? Bacon! This friend is still cold. Are you not going to do it properly?”

The mercenaries, startled by the pig’s words, scratched the floor with their fingernails and begged for their lives.

“It’s not cold. I’m burning up.”

“I’ll take everything off. Please don’t kick me out.”

They pleaded desperately, but Legion turned a deaf ear.

The exclusive servants took the mercenaries outside again.

The mercenaries cried.

* * *

“So, are you in the mood to talk now?”

Legion said, looking back at Bowl and the mercenaries.

Their eyes were desperate. They were ready to do anything. They would die if they went outside one more time. The sun was setting. The cold wind was getting stronger. They felt like their skin was being shredded every time the wind blew.

“Ask me anything. I will tell you everything I know.”

Bowl said quickly.

He knew that even a little delay could mean being dragged outside again.

“Right. Mithril mine. So, who told you we had a Mithril mine?”

“That, that’s…”

“Hey, Bacon! You really…”

“I’m sorry! I really, I really didn’t know.”

Bowl said, turning pale.

“No. There’s Dragon Falls up there. It doesn’t freeze even in this season. The scenery is amazing. If you go in there once, you’ll definitely remember. Hey, Bacon!”

“Ahhh! Please save me. Please save me.”

* * *

Bowl and the mercenaries’ minds were paralyzed.

They didn’t even know who they were talking to. They couldn’t even figure out who was alive and who was dead. Everyone was spaced out, their teeth chattering.

Legion extracted all the information he wanted from them.

He also knew why they had come here. They didn’t know how this mission had been assigned. They had simply done what they were told to do from above.

But putting the pieces together, he could roughly guess.

A magician from a foreign land had knelt in front of the County’s main gate for days, asking them to accept him. When he asked about the magician’s appearance, he said he looked like this and that.

Very similar to Paring.

“So, you’re saying that if you guys don’t go back, other guys might come?”

Legion asked.

Bowl’s eyes sparkled as he answered.

This was a godsend opportunity. To escape this devil’s den!

“Yes, that’s right. They will need information about this area.”

“Aha, is that so?”

A smile spread across Legion’s face.

His luck was good these days. He was worried about how to fill a hundred people… He smirked as he looked at Bowl and the mercenaries.

“One, two, three, four…”

He counted the numbers again.

“Thirty. Hehehe!”

A large Abrinium floated in his head.

“You said your name was Bowl, right? Are you married?”

“Yes?”

“Are you going to make me ask twice? Are you married?”

“Ah, no. Not yet.”

“Good, that’s good. The other guys stay here, and you come have an interview with me.”

Legion slapped the back of Sepia’s head, who was heavily drunk, as he passed by.

“Hey, you! I told you not to drool while looking at people!”

-Krr, Krr (Bro! I can drool, but I don’t eat them).

Legion went into the small room in the corner and called Bacon. Bowl trembled as if he had seen a grim reaper when Bacon entered.

“Hey! What are you trembling for, you big man? Hey, Bacon!”

“Yes, Master!”

“Go get some strong liquor.”

A moment later, Bacon brought the liquor, and Legion filled a large glass to the brim.

“Drink.”

Bowl hesitated for a moment.

“It’s okay, drink.”

Bowl sipped cautiously, and Legion said with a light smile.

“From now on, you can choose one of two things. One is to work under Bacon here. You were going to kill a noble anyway, right? Your life is already over, but I’m a little generous. So, well… you can learn from Bacon. But maybe you’ll have to go to the waterfall for five hours every night.”

“Cough, cough, cough!”

Bacon patted his back. Legion ignored him and continued.

“The second is to get married. Well, of course, you’ll have to sign the curse contract… Anyway, listen carefully. This could be a very big opportunity for you…”

* * *

Legion looked at the staff in front of him.

It was about 70 centimeters long. It was short for a staff.

It was an expensive item that Silcut and Rohas had obtained from the maritime city of Ciel. It was far heavier than ordinary iron, so it was called heavy iron.

The reason for obtaining this was for ‘dieting’.

Thanks to that ‘dieting is bad for your health’ skill, he couldn’t lose weight no matter how hard he tried.

So, he and Mark put their heads together and developed this training method.

It was about 20 times heavier than a normal staff with a magic stone attached.

It weighed about 30 kilograms. A halberd [a polearm combining spear and axe] carried by knights weighed about 15 kilograms, and a lance weighed about 20 kilograms, so it was even heavier than that.

If mages with weak stamina carried this staff, their arms would fall off.

They would be exhausted before they could even use magic.

Nevertheless, Legion had this ridiculous staff custom-made.

When Silcut and Rohas said they were custom-making a staff made of heavy iron at the smithy, the blacksmith asked for a long time why they were doing this for such a high price.

Silcut and Rohas still didn’t understand why Legion had made this deformed staff.

Don’t worry.

It’s just one of the training methods to lose weight.

He planned to repeat the same training while holding or carrying this. When he got used to it, he could increase the kilograms.

He could amplify his magic power with the staff and increase his stamina. How great was that?

Mark had already completed 25,000 simulations with this method.

That artificial intelligence guy was just full of hot air.

He would have believed him if he had said twenty-five.

Anyway, it was clear that he would lose weight. He had to reduce it to below 100 kilograms soon. The risk levels of hyperlipidemia [high cholesterol], high blood pressure, and diabetes kept appearing on his retina.

The saddest thing was the text about decreased libido.

He couldn’t tell anyone. It was sad. He was only 19 years old, but he had decreased libido.

“Good. Let’s go with hope today. Who should I choose as my sparring partner today?”

-How about fighting an ogre soon?

“An ogre?”

-Yep.

“Can I really be a match for an ogre?”

-Considering your overall combat power is 850 and the ogre’s average combat power is 1,500 to 1,700, it is considered good for increasing practical experience.

“What if I meet someone like Sepia?”

-That’s your fate. You have no choice but to run away desperately. Still, you have to lose weight quickly to gain popularity with women, make a girlfriend, hold hands with a pounding heart, and kiss in a deserted place….

“Stop, that’s too far.”

-Listen to me until the end. Now is the time to build up practical experience. Your skills are not bad. But the balance is seriously off.

“What’s wrong with me?”

-Does it make sense for a mage to throw a punch first when a fight starts?

“Hey, hey, do I want to punch? What can I do when I have no choice but to fight like that?”

-Haa, stop blaming others.

Legion’s blood pressure rose again in the back of his head. He made me like this and told me not to blame others. What the hell!

-Hurry up and put on your cold-weather clothes and go to the Dusseldorf Mountains! From today, spar with higher-level monsters such as ogres, trolls, and lycanthropes [werewolves]. If you’re tired, I’ll turn on auto mode.

“Okay. I’m going. I’m going.”