Genius Wizard Hides His Sword Skills [EN]: Chapter 127

127. Undercurrent (3)

“Have you perhaps heard of Revoluca?”

The men’s conversation repeatedly caught my attention.

“…Revoluca? What’s that?”

“I just heard about them, but apparently, they’re behind this incident!”

The rumor we had already fabricated had reached them.

“Wh-what? Are they an organization like the Circle of Radicals?”

“Hey, come on. How can you compare them to those petty criminals? They even attacked Sir Hustaff…”

“Well, they can’t be ordinary terrorists. They couldn’t have beaten Sir Hustaff in a one-on-one fight, so they must have set some kind of trap.”

They were speculating and deducing the incident.

There were remarks that seemed to belittle the Circle of Radicals, but they were making reasonably logical deductions.

[If Anghel heard that, he’d be furious.]

‘He’d probably like it. The Circle of Radicals is deliberately hiding its strength.’

The Circle of Radicals was still expanding its power to achieve its goals. Even though they were openly active, being ignored was proof that they were well hidden.

[True, they’re fulfilling their role as a secret organization.]

‘We need to make them a much bigger force in the future, so we can’t be discovered yet.’

We might have to wage an all-out war against the world. Our current power was not negligible, but it was still not enough.

“Sigh. What’s wrong with the world? Criminals never cease to exist.”

The two men continued their conversation, forgetting to order food. I couldn’t take my ears off their conversation.

“But one of the escorts survived, I heard.”

“What? Even though Sir Hustaff was attacked? How?”

“Apparently, Sir Hustaff gave him a transfer pendant [a magical item allowing instantaneous teleportation]. It was his own, but he gave it away, saying he would stay and fight.”

I nodded. The missing person’s whereabouts were as expected.

‘So, he had a pendant.’

[That Hustaff guy was pretty decent. He could have escaped himself.]

‘I know, right? He looked so cold on the outside.’

The two men were also shaking their heads.

“Wow. That’s Sir Hustaff for you. He’s not the kind of person to go like that…”

“Exactly. Heaven is so heartless. Taking such a great person.”

The Blood Lord, Hustaff. He was a man with a good reputation, which didn’t match his title.

“So, who’s the survivor?”

“It’s a friend named Guarr. You know him, right?”

“Ah! Guarr, the guy who reached 7-star this time?”

“Yeah. He’s in his 20s and already a 7-star, so the Magic Tower was buzzing. Sir Hustaff cherished him.”

“Sigh. He saved a friend with a bright future instead of himself.”

The two men shook their heads. I approached them as they fell into silence.

“Could I take a look at the news report?”

My curiosity was piqued by the contents of the stack of papers in the man’s hand.

He scanned me up and down and twitched his eyebrows.

“Oh, a Magic Tower robe. Hmm? Delema…?”

“Yes. I apologize, but I couldn’t help but overhear you two seniors’ conversation. As a student of the Magic Tower, I was curious about Sir Hustaff’s news.”

Then, a satisfied smile spread across the faces of the two men. It must have been because I didn’t flaunt being Delema and treated them as seniors of the Magic Tower with respect.

“Haha! This young friend is very polite. Here it is. It’s truly sad news.”

“Thank you.”

The article on the front page of the news report was about Hustaff’s death.

‘Oh my, that’s scary.’

The Magic Tower’s announcement was quite provocative.

[…They will catch the terrorists by any means necessary. Oh, they’re going to wipe them all out?]

The Magic Tower had declared an all-out war against the terrorist group.

‘They hid the name Revoluca.’

[Indeed.]

The Magic Tower didn’t reveal the name of the group in the news report.

‘But it’s only a matter of time.’

The name Revoluca would spread in an instant.

“So, what are those Revoluca guys supposed to be doing?”

Even the two men in front of me were discussing the name.

Although the news report didn’t mention the name, they were clearly spreading rumors through word of mouth.

“Well, all I know for sure is that they’re not ordinary cruel guys.”

“Why?”

“Not only did they annihilate the entire escort, but they also tortured one of the criminals the escort was transporting in plain sight.”

“What? How did they do it?”

“They cut all the tendons in his limbs and left him tied up in the middle of a canyon. But do you know the cruelest part?”

The man closed his eyes tightly and whispered.

“They castrated him. Physically, I mean.”

“Eek!”

“They’re not ordinary cruel guys. They’re completely heartless. They’ll definitely eat people alive.”

The rumors were already becoming distorted.

[Did you order the castration too?]

‘I didn’t… Did Anghel do it on his own? Ugh.’

Kohir, the Slaughterer of Ihalram. Anghel didn’t show mercy to those who harmed the powerless.

‘Anyway, Revoluca can’t stay still now.’

Their name would gradually spread. Everyone having breakfast here was all ears.

[It’s really only a matter of time.]

The rumors would spread even faster through the mouths of gossipers.

‘Two secret organizations can’t be allowed under one sky.’

Moreover, the Magic Tower’s encirclement would gradually narrow.

‘Let’s see what kind of guys they are.’

They could no longer hide in the shadows.

* * *

“…This is absurd. Who dares!”

The research building on the 100th floor of the Magic Tower. A chilling atmosphere was swirling in one of the laboratories.

“Sigh. Even Hustaff was attacked, so they’re no ordinary people.”

As expected, it was a story about this incident. However, the reason they were angry was a bit different.

“We must find them. How dare they impersonate us!”

“How did they know the name Revoluca…?”

The name Revoluca came out of their mouths. They were discussing the fact that they had been impersonated as Revoluca.

“Vice Commander, what are you planning to do? If the Magic Tower narrows its encirclement, we might be discovered.”

The faces of these people were all too familiar.

“Alois, let’s wait for the Commander-in-Chief’s instructions first. Hasty actions will only be poison.”

This was Alois’s laboratory. Alois and Stenos were talking with hardened expressions.

“…I understand. We need to check if there are any traitors within us first. How else would the name Revoluca have leaked out?”

“It wouldn’t hurt to check. I’ll check that myself, so don’t worry.”

Alois nodded. But his brow didn’t seem to smooth out.

“This is no ordinary matter. It’s time to move for the sake of the cause, but it’s difficult to act because we’re wary of the Magic Tower.”

“It can’t be helped. We’ll have to lie low for the time being. It seems like someone is intentionally trying to expose us…”

At that moment, Stenos turned his head.

“Wait. Let’s continue the conversation later. It seems like we have a guest.”

Stenos looked towards the door of the laboratory. It was because the detection magic he had set up had been activated.

“…A guest?”

Alois’s face showed embarrassment at the sudden appearance of a guest.

Normally, he wouldn’t have shown it, but he was emotionally agitated due to a series of events.

“Ahem.”

Stenos gave Alois a warning with a dry cough. He maintained a blank expression, but he was also a little nervous.

He had been trying to find Alois secretly, so it would be awkward if someone saw him here at this time.

‘Who could be here at this hour…’

Because of the timing, even a slightly different action than usual could cause the Magic Tower to suspect him.

Squeak-.

The door opened at the same time.

‘Hmm.’

Fortunately, Stenos felt relieved.

“Hello… Oh! Sir Stenos, you’re here too. It’s been a while.”

“Ah, it’s Ian.”

It was Alois’s assistant, Ian, who had appeared. He was completely unrelated to the Magic Tower’s pursuit.

“Did you have a good vacation? Alois praised you for improving a lot.”

“Thanks to your concern. You flatter me.”

“But it seems like class ended early today. You’ve already come to the lab.”

“Ah, yes. Because of the Hustaff incident…, the professors couldn’t continue the class well.”

“Ah, I see. The professors must have been quite shocked.”

Hustaff was trusted by everyone in the Magic Tower, so it was natural for the professors to have a time of mourning.

“Then, Alois. I’ll be going. Don’t worry too much and get back to your daily life soon.”

“I understand.”

The two exchanged glances with hardened expressions.

* * *

[Alois didn’t look good either. Was he also a Hustaff fan?]

On the way back to his residence after finishing his research, Oberon suddenly looked back at the upper floors of the Magic Tower.

‘Well, probably. He’s a figure that not only the Magic Tower but most magicians look up to.’

It wasn’t just Alois. The atmosphere of the entire Magic Tower had become heavy. Hustaff’s death was that shocking.

‘More than that, it looks like Stenos and he have something going on.’

[Indeed. He seemed a little embarrassed.]

Stenos maintained a blank expression, but Alois’s eyes were shaking for a moment when the door opened.

‘That sly guy wasn’t even smiling.’

It was clear that a serious conversation had taken place between the two.

[Well, maybe they were talking about Hustaff? But probably not. What are the odds?]

‘Maybe. Maybe they were having secret talks about that. They’re definitely people who are hiding something.’

Oberon said it jokingly, but it wasn’t entirely impossible.

There was no reason why the authorities of the Magic Tower wouldn’t be included in the ranks of the noble families.

[Whatever it is, it’ll be revealed soon.]

Now, all we had to do was wait for the Magic Tower to do the work for us.

‘Yeah. Let’s forget about that for a while and go check on the kids.’

Shaking his head, he stepped into the crowds of the Ias market.

[It’ll be fun. How much will they have improved?]

Today, he was going to spar with Admun and Drew at the residence.

‘They’re still rookies anyway. It’s time to beat them up a bit.’

[A love tap, so to speak.]

A smile spread across his face as he headed to the general store.