Magic Is Learned For Nothing [EN]: Chapter 422

Madness Awakens 1

Duke Trebia was speechless upon receiving the report. He couldn’t believe it and checked it several times.

But the answer that came back was always the same:

-His Majesty the King is dead.

Second Prince Capsaicin is dead.

Third Prince Canary is missing.

First Princess Chopa is dead.

Second Princess Nojam is missing.

In addition, 27 members of the royal family are dead, and 30 are missing.

290 nobles are dead. 187 are missing.

213 guards are dead, 333 are missing.

112 servants and maids are dead, 233 are missing.

Eldorado Resort completely collapsed.

It is expected to take at least 6 hours to put out the fire.

Duke Trebia had a splitting headache. He prided himself on his competence, but he couldn’t make heads or tails of the situation. He couldn’t understand how this could be happening; it defied all common sense.

“What’s wrong?”

Smith asked.

Trebia handed the report to Smith. Smith’s face turned pale as he read it.

He found his daughter on the list of missing persons.

“Y-Your Excellency.”

“I know. Go.”

“I’m sorry.”

Smith immediately left the barracks, mounted his horse, and rode towards Ice City, the site of the disaster.

Everyone in the barracks was silent. Duke Trebia knew he had to say something, anything, to try and make sense of what was happening.

Judging from the situation, it was disastrous.

What on earth had happened?

“Your Excellency.”

Count Anaconda addressed Duke Trebia on behalf of the armed forces.

Duke Trebia raised his hand, silencing the room. “Quiet for a moment!”

He sat down heavily, sinking into his chair, and pondered. “Ah, I understand.”

Where had things gone wrong?

He tried to trace it back to the beginning.

Something was definitely twisted, some crucial element out of place. The tangled thread was so complicated that it was too difficult for him to unravel.

But he needed to find the starting point, the origin of the mess.

Where was it from?

From the bio-weapon monsters he had been researching for years? Damn it, he had ruined that too.

Thanks to that, the military city of Thema was devastated.

Then there was the research to artificially upgrade the knights. They were also annihilated during the Undead War.

The Gongwang [a powerful noble or warlord], who had put in a lot of effort, was imprisoned in the infamous Alcatraz prison.

Most of his henchmen were beheaded, and their property confiscated.

Now they were adrift, without direction or purpose.

He had been confident that he would win the civil war.

He had helped in every way possible.

If their power and Gongwang’s power were combined, the King’s gang would be no match for them.

The probability of them reversing the situation was less than 10 percent.

Yet the situation *had* been reversed.

Why?

Let’s go back to that.

He succeeded in summoning the Bone Dragon with considerable effort. The Bone Dragon devastated Poman, their capital.

Already 100,000 troops were preparing to enter the border.

Just a little more…….

If the Bone Dragon had neutralized their command, it would have been a 100 percent winnable war.

But the 100,000 troops on the border had to retreat without moving a single step.

Why?

Why on earth?

Let’s combine the commonalities of all the incidents.

Don’t miss even the smallest details.

Duke Trebia’s extraordinary mind was working furiously.

At some point-

His eyes sparkled.

“I heard that there is a newly promoted Duke in the Baroque Kingdom, right?”

Duke Trebia asked the knight in charge of information.

“Yes, that’s right. Originally, Duke Trump was on Gongwang’s side, but his title was stripped, and he was imprisoned in Alcatraz with Gongwang. But with the new Duke’s recommendation, there are now two again.”

“What’s the name of that Duke?”

“Le… Le something. I’m sorry. Is it Remington?”

“Remington?”

“Residence?”

“Residence?”

“It’s Legion.”

Count Anaconda, who couldn’t stand listening any longer, intervened.

He is the commander of Cobra, the strongest unit in Neck House. He is not very tall, but the energy he exudes is like looking at a drawn sword.

“That’s right. Legion. I remembered.”

“Why him?”

“Think about it. Everyone here. Does his name sound unfamiliar?”

“Hmm.”

“Hmm.”

The armed forces crossed their arms and tried to understand what Duke Trebia meant.

“How is it? Is it unfamiliar? Or is it familiar?”

“I don’t know, but… it’s familiar. That’s strange. I’ve never heard of him before.”

“Me too. It’s a name I’ve heard somewhere.”

“Yeah, me too.”

The armed forces tilted their heads.

“Yes, I thought so. You’ve heard it at least once. Why?”

Duke Trebia took out the documents and spread them out in front of them.

“His name is in every single thing that has happened so far.”

“Yes?”

“W-What does that mean?”

“It’s true. Surprisingly, no one cared. No one knew about him. He’s openly interfering with our work, right under our noses.”

“Does that make sense?”

“I didn’t think it made sense either. It’s also known that Dondekman defeated the Bone Dragon. But why is his name in there?”

“Maybe he just helped a little in defeating the Bone Dragon?”

“The most certain thing is this: the civil war! Or the Undead War!”

When the civil war connected to the Gongwang of the Baroque Kingdom came up, a shallow groan flowed from everyone’s mouths.

Duke Trebia also suffered considerable damage from that incident. He was the one who invested a huge amount of money in Gongwang.

“The person who ended the civil war must have achieved the greatest achievement, right?”

“That’s right.”

“Who is the person who officially achieved the greatest achievement?”

“It’s the new King. He said he caught Gongwang himself.”

“Besides?”

“Wouldn’t it be Baserabab, Duke Sijinpi, John Wick, Romeo, Tibolt, Persimmon, etc.?”

“Yes, that’s right. According to what is known.”

“Then what about the monster corps that they mobilized? Which unit do they belong to?”

“There is a rumor that the King raised them himself…….”

“Okay. Let’s say that’s all true. Then Legion, why was he promoted from Count to Duke when he didn’t do anything?”

“There is a rumor that he is a great traitor…….”

“Even if he is a traitor… No matter how much of a traitor he is, can he be promoted two ranks at once from Count to Duke?”

“…….”

“Now, look. The core of the civil war is the most important thing. He must have played a decisive role in the victory or defeat. Otherwise, the situation doesn’t make sense! Also, I heard he was a Baron. It hasn’t been long since he was promoted from Baron to Count, and now he’s been promoted to Duke again. Search for Duke Legion on the Baroque Kingdom’s SNS [Social Networking Service]!”

Duke Trebia shouted.

The armed forces hurriedly took out their magic terminals and searched SNS.

Unfortunately, there was no photo of the person named Legion.

Well, the Duke’s appearance is top secret. Unless he’s crazy about SNS and takes selfies and uploads them, his face wouldn’t be public.

But it wasn’t like there was no information about him at all.

-The youngest Duke in the history of the Baroque Kingdom. Promoted in the shortest period of time.

“Did you see it?”

“Yes.”

“What does that mean?”

“It means that his scheming is enormous.”

“That’s right. He is the hidden mastermind. He hid Lauzel until the end and then appeared at the end, completely reversing the situation. The monster corps is probably his work too. This mastermind is him.”

Duke Trebia threw all the documents he received at everyone. The faces of the armed forces who read the documents turned pale.

The situation was not normal.

“Maybe those hostage takers are also subordinates of Duke Legion. It’s a checkmate.”

“Checkmate?”

“Yes, if we give them 400 million gold, the kingdom will go bankrupt. Maybe we’ll experience an IMF [International Monetary Fund]-like crisis. Maybe even worse. But if we don’t give it to them, they’ll kill the last remaining royal family member. Then our kingdom is over. What can a kingdom without a royal family do to survive?”

“…….”

The armed forces were speechless.

They didn’t know where things went wrong.

But they seemed to know for sure that they were driven to the edge of a cliff.

What would happen if the current situation became known to foreign countries?

The Neck House Kingdom, without a command structure, is an ownerless land. Neighboring countries will inevitably send troops to tear apart the Neck House Kingdom.

Because it’s free land.

To prevent that, they had to save Prince Pelle, the first prince, at all costs.

“What are you going to do?”

Count Anaconda asked carefully.

“Give it to them.”

“400 million gold?”

“Yes.”

“You said we’ll go bankrupt.”

“It’s better than the kingdom disappearing. Maybe we’ll be managed by the IMF. Many guilds will go bankrupt. But there’s nothing we can do. We’ll endure it now. We must repay him for this humiliation.”

“Who are you referring to as ‘him’?”

“Duke Legion! From now on, put all the intelligence agencies into full operation. Find out everything about Duke Legion from A to Z! Find out even the number of hairs in his ass! Got it!”

“I understand.”

“Top-class Yanolja!” [Yanolja is a popular South Korean booking site, implying a thorough search]

“…….”

Legion was out of his mind.

He couldn’t understand why this was happening.

Looking at the paper that Duke Trebia handed over…….

The royal family was all dead.

By bombing.

It was damage beyond imagination.

What big-hearted guy did this?

If it were my subordinates, they wouldn’t have done this because they were too timid.

He was very envious of whoever had such subordinates.

Then, Duke Trebia suddenly said ‘Legion’.

He almost said ‘Yes!’ If he had, it would have been a disaster.

And he listened to their conversation.

He was briefly angry at the word ‘great traitor’, but he calmed down overall.

Now that he knew what they were aiming for, he calmed down even more. If he had been attacked without knowing it, it would have been more troublesome.

What should I say?

Come if you want. I’m not that easy! That’s how I feel.

Somehow, he wanted to try it.

“Top-class Yanolja?”

“Yes? Ah, I’m sorry. I was so shocked that I was temporarily stunned.”

Legion shook the paper with top-secret information and answered.

“We must come to our senses at times like this. Aren’t you the Omucheon [a group of powerful figures] of the kingdom? Now is the time for us to work together to endure.”

“I understand. Give me any orders. I will follow.”

“I’m so relieved. If all the Omucheon were like you, I would feel much lighter.”

“They will soon know Your Excellency’s deeply troubled heart. What are your orders?”

“Tell them to give 400 million gold.”

“Really?”

“Yes.”

Legion barely held back his laughter. If he laughed here, the hard-built tower would collapse.

Still, he couldn’t help but laugh, so he pinched his thigh as hard as he could.

Ah, it hurts, but it’s not very effective.

He pinched the inside of his thigh tightly again.

Kueok! Sseubeol, it hurts so much!

Legion shed tears.

It’s 400 million gold, so these tears are nothing.

“Are you so upset?”

Duke Trebia sighed deeply.

“Yes, well.”

“I’m upset too. But there’s nothing we can do now. We have to give them 400 million gold to save Prince. He’s the only remaining royal family member. We must save him no matter what.”

“I understand.”

“Your mission is important. We’ll give them 400 million gold, but… find out for sure who’s behind them. We’ll definitely take this humiliation with their lives.”

Duke Trebia’s anger swept through the entire barracks.

Heume, scary.

Whatever.

Legion felt like he was going crazy with joy.

But there was something he didn’t expect.

A huge…….

That an irreversible situation had occurred.