Genius Wizard Hides His Sword Skills [EN]: Chapter 106

106. Eccentric Merchant (3)

The Centrifugal Force member took off running. Carles and I followed Jurant, who had introduced himself.

“Jikel has been attacked.”

My eyebrows shot up at the name from Jurant’s mouth. It was the man I’d ordered to track Dipone.

“Attacked? What do you mean?”

“…He was tracking Dipone alone and lost his life.”

“What?”

“Jikel sent a distress signal during the operation.”

Jurant produced a small bead from his pocket and handed it over. It was an item that could send a signal when mana was injected.

“So we immediately dispatched… but he was already dead.”

My brow furrowed. I never imagined losing someone while tracking a merchant.

‘What on earth…’

He was a competent member of the Centrifugal Force. The fact that such a person was attacked was no ordinary matter.

“It’s over there.”

Jurant slowed down. Four executives of the Centrifugal Force were already gathered where he pointed.

My gaze locked onto the center of their circle.

‘……Huh.’

It was Jikel, a cold corpse.

[Hmm. This is a bit much.]

Even for me, who could confidently say I’d seen more battlefields than most, it was a brutal sight.

His limbs were hacked off, and his organs were taken out and brutally mutilated.

‘He not only sensed the Centrifugal Force executives, but managed to win?’

Jikel was at least a 7-star. It was hard to understand how such a person had been taken down.

‘Hmm.’

My gaze swept the surroundings. The ground was covered in traces of battle.

The terrain was so disturbed it was hard to recognize its original form, suggesting a desperate fight, but the traces were strange.

‘This is too one-sided.’

Most of the marks were from Jikel.

Craters were dug in only one direction, clearly from Jikel using all sorts of techniques.

[The difference in skill must have been significant.]

As if struggling to survive, Jikel poured out all his power.

My heart ached at the thought of his desperate struggle.

“…Did Dipone do this?”

It was natural to feel anger towards the one responsible.

“We haven’t figured that out yet. We didn’t sense much energy from him, so Jikel followed him alone… It’s our mistake.”

Jurant lowered his head, ashamed. The other four figures bowed their heads with him.

“It’s not your fault. Dipone must have been hiding his strength, or there must have been someone else.”

I didn’t feel any strong energy from Dipone either. Jikel was sent on reconnaissance, but I never thought it would end like this.

Carles also closed his eyes tightly.

“Can you predict the direction that guy went? I think I need to teach him a lesson.”

His fist clenched violently.

“Kuh!”

The Centrifugal Force members covered their faces.

Koo-ooo…

Even just expressing his anger, the surrounding stones floated and swirled around Carles.

“…Fortunately, we can accurately find where he went.”

Jurant managed to speak amidst the swirling energy.

“Jikel left a magic mark on him just before he died.”

Magic mark. A trace of mana.

A technique to leave one’s mana on the opponent and track them. It was one of the tracking magics passed down within the Centrifugal Force.

[So that’s why he brought you here so quickly.]

Since the magic mark only lasted three or four hours, Jurant had urgently brought me here.

‘……Did you fight so desperately to leave a magic mark?’

Jikel tried to carry out my instructions, even leaving a magic mark until his last moment. He didn’t even close his eyes, trying to capture the guy’s traces until the very end.

‘I’m sorry. I should have been more careful…’

I knelt and closed Jikel’s eyelids.

“I will not let your death be in vain.”

The last message he conveyed as he died. We had to move before the magic mark disappeared.

“We’re going after him right now.”

The five executives of the Centrifugal Force, Carles, and I flew off.

* * *

Woo-oong!

The trace of blue mana connected like a thread. Jikel’s magic mark was guiding us.

[That guy must be at least an 8-star. Are you sure it’s okay to go straight there without a plan?]

‘Carles is here anyway. There’s no safer time. It’s not like that guy is a known Archmage.’

[Well, yeah. What human could beat that ignorant guy? If he was that good, he wouldn’t be a strange peddler.]

No matter how skilled he was to overwhelm Jikel, he couldn’t beat Carles.

Although he couldn’t use all his power outside the water.

“You guys! I’ll teach you all a lesson!”

Carles, shouting like that, had martial prowess comparable to a 9-star knight.

‘The top priority is to arrive before the magic mark disappears.’

It was a decision I could make because he was with me.

“The magic mark has turned this way.”

Jurant pointed in the direction where we had been going.

“A mountain?”

The blue thread was heading towards a remote mountain.

‘Why in a place like this?’

It was suspicious enough to leave Raftel’s outskirts and head to a deserted place. But he went further, disappearing into the mountains where no one would find him.

“Preceptor [title of respect]. Are you going to be okay?”

Jurant’s expression hardened. A sudden battle might break out. If that place was his hideout, it would be unfavorable for us.

It was like throwing ourselves into the enemy’s camp without countermeasures. The guy, who knew the forest environment well, would have endless advantages.

‘What the hell is he doing?’

The guy suddenly headed into the forest. The Centrifugal Force members and I frowned.

“What are you worried about? We just have to go and see!”

Carles was still confident.

“That magic mark is about to disappear soon, so we have to go quickly, right?”

The magic mark was different.

‘It’s definitely lost a lot of light.’

Unlike when it was shining brightly, it was almost gone. At this rate, we might lose him forever, so we had to act.

“Let’s do that. But let’s go in carefully.”

We followed the magic mark to the mountain, stopping at the entrance.

“There may be traps.”

Jurant and the Centrifugal Force executives surveyed the surroundings, about to use detection magic.

“We can just go, why are you so scared?”

Carles stepped forward.

Phew!

A sound of air being torn was heard.

‘This is bad.’

Bad premonitions always came true.

Phew! Ping!

Dozens of arrows flew towards us.

Whoooo!

Carles didn’t panic and increased the trident’s size, spinning the spear, now about 5 meters long, like a windmill.

Clang! Clang!

The arrows bounced off. His spear protected us like a huge shield.

“Humph! This is nothing!”

Carles turned and gave a thumbs up. He was so strong he didn’t care about being careful.

‘Ugh, that idiot.’

This attack wouldn’t work on him, but that wasn’t the problem. The guy inside would know we were here.

‘He’s advertising that we’ve arrived.’

I hated his nonchalance, but there was no time to stare.

Creak!

A strange mechanical sound echoed from the forest.

[What is that sound?]

‘I don’t know.’

The unidentified eccentric merchant, Dipone. Since I didn’t know his abilities, I could only look around, senses raised.

“I think it’s better to avoid it. I think he noticed us.”

Jurant suggested a retreat.

“What?”

Carles frowned.

“Shouldn’t we punish that nasty guy when he comes out? Isn’t that why we came here?”

That was true.

Creak!

The intermittent mechanical sound increased anxiety.

“I’ll personally punish anyone. Do you think there will be many opportunities for me to step in?”

Carles turned towards the forest.

“…Who is it!”

“Oh. Your skill in sensing energy is not ordinary.”

A figure appeared where Carles looked. It was Dipone, with a crescent smile.

“I was wondering who it was, but it’s Young Master Delema.”

“We meet again.”

“It’s nice to see you again… but why did you follow me here? Did you track me down?”

There was no need to make excuses.

“Let me be direct. That guy from earlier is my man. Whether it was you or your colleague who killed him.”

“Ah, I knew it. No wonder he wouldn’t say who sent him even when I asked him while cutting off his limbs. He must have had such integrity because he was from Delema.”

Dipone spoke with a nonchalant smile. That appearance was disgusting.

“Did you do it?”

“Yes, but. Are you here to hold me accountable?”

“I have to ask.”

“Hmm. That’s too bad.”

The guy’s crescent eyes widened.

“Ah. Delema is still too much to handle…”

Dipone looked at me with a hardened expression.

“Well, if you all die here, there will be no leaks, right?”

Woo-ooo!

A whirlwind of air swirled around Dipone’s body. The released mana shook my hair.

[So that’s why Jikel was attacked.]

At least Anghel’s level of skill. He was not just a simple merchant.

But we also had a secret weapon.

“Humph!”

Carles slammed the trident on the floor.

Koo-oong!

Even that simple action was filled with murderous intent. Dipone flinched.

“Oh. A knight with this much momentum? So Delema was creating secret weapons too!”

Dipone judged Carles to be a member of Delema.

“Good. I’ll show you a gift too!”

The mana condensed around his body spread into the forest.

Creak…

The mechanical sounds stopped, but the silence was brief.

Koo-ooo!

The entire mountain vibrated as if it would collapse.

“Die here, all of you!”