Genius Wizard Hides His Sword Skills [EN]: Chapter 133

133. The Beginning of Change

Responding to my gesture, a figure rushed towards Tina Zilia.

“Oh my, what’s all the commotion?”

It was the manager of this restaurant.

“I’ll quickly arrange a seat for you, so please, calm your anger.”

Bowing deeply, his true identity was, of course, Jurant, an executive of the Wonshin Council.

[Nice timing.]

I had stopped by him briefly before coming to deal with Tina, to give him his mission. He had approached Tina intentionally.

‘He’s doing it naturally.’

Jurant was skillfully touching the hem of Tina’s robe, intending to plant traces of black magic on her.

[I know, right? You’d think he was an actor.]

I had requested a speck of dust from Aries in advance. The black powder, laced with black magic, settled on the hem of Tina’s robe.

“Hmph! And who are you!”

Oblivious to this fact, Tina Zilia raised her voice again.

I stepped closer to her, taking Jurant’s place.

“I am the manager here.”

“The manager? Must I mingle with the likes of you! Be gone!”

Her attitude was overbearing, a typical example of a scion [descendant] of a prestigious family.

“Manager, step back for a moment. I’ll handle this.”

“Yes, sir. I apologize.”

Bowing his head, Jurant stepped back. Having successfully completed his mission, he was retreating naturally.

“You must be Tina Zilia?”

And I flashed her a friendly smile.

“Do you know me?”

“Of course. As a fellow magician, I have long heard of your reputation, Tina.”

She raised an eyebrow at my changed attitude.

“The truth is, I know *of* you, Tina, so I was just being playful because I was so glad to see you. I guess I crossed the line. I certainly didn’t intend to make you angry.”

“…What?”

“I felt a sense of inner familiarity with you, Tina. But, you probably had no information about such a greenhorn like me. It was my fault for not considering that and making a joke.”

Tina must have been taken aback by my sudden change in attitude.

“Ahem!”

She had been given a way out of an awkward situation. Moreover, I was saving her face in front of everyone, so there was no reason to refuse.

“You’re not entirely hopeless! I understand. I’ll forgive you this time, but don’t do it again.”

“Understood. Please, come inside. As a gesture of apology, the meal is on me.”

And I gestured to Jurant, who was waiting.

“Manager, escort her to the best seat.”

“Yes, sir. I will personally escort you. This way, please.”

She glanced at me once for no reason.

“Hmph!”

And followed Jurant as if fleeing.

[This should be fun.]

‘What a foolish woman.’

Although she had backed down for now, she would soon be in even more trouble.

‘We’ll see.’

After wrapping up the situation and returning to my seat, Admun whispered to me.

“But, what if she’s related to Revoluca?”

I understood his concern. Tina Zilia had been designated as our target, and she had to be an ordinary person, not affiliated with any group.

“Don’t worry. There’s no way. There’s no way those guys who’ve been hiding for five years would be running around like that, acting so arrogant.”

“I guess so. It would be attracting attention.”

Having evaded the Magic Tower’s investigation network for years, they wouldn’t do anything so blatantly conspicuous.

“The start is good. Then let’s get going. Time to welcome our guests.”

A satisfied smile spread across my face.

* * *

The restaurant, with its magnificent exterior.

And next to it, there was a building of moderate size.

It wasn’t flashy, but it wasn’t rustic either, a general store that blended in well with the other buildings.

“The interior preparations are complete.”

Angel opened the door and stepped inside first.

This was the place where the auction for the scions of prestigious families would be held today, and where the Magic Tower and Revoluca would infiltrate.

“Welcome.”

The members of the Wonshin Council inside greeted us.

“What items do you need?”

They asked politely.

Since my ownership of the general store was kept secret, they were deliberately treating us like customers.

“I have an invitation for today.”

I handed over the invitation needed to enter the auction house.

“You’re a VIP. This way, please.”

They naturally guided us to a separate space, leading us to a small door in the back.

It looked like the entrance to a warehouse.

Squeak-

But inside, there was a neatly organized, spacious area. It was a secret banquet hall created as a social facility for the scions of prestigious families.

“Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.”

Several people had already arrived inside the banquet hall.

They were all dressed in stylish clothes, members of prestigious families who had received invitations.

– I’ll start by describing the person on the far left.

And Angel’s voice was secretly transmitted using telepathy.

His explanation continued for a while.

– They’re all on the invitation list.

– Yes, they are.

It was a slightly disappointing moment.

If someone had come who wasn’t on our invitation list, we could have suspected their identity.

Since we had only sent invitations to each family, we hadn’t publicly disclosed a separate invitation list.

If someone had an invitation that we hadn’t sent, there was a high probability that they had infiltrated from the Magic Tower or Revoluca.

[So, there are no moles among these guys?]

‘We don’t know. They might have been on the invitation list we set in the first place.’

Of course, we couldn’t be sure about the people on the list either. Everyone here was a suspect.

– Keep a close eye on those who come in the future.

– Understood.

There was still about an hour left until the announced time. We couldn’t overlook the faces of those who would come in the future.

* * *

[A lot of them came.]

‘I know. About half of the people who received invitations came, right?’

Roughly, there were nearly 30 people gathered. It was a gathering of members from families that were prominent in the continent.

[The auction items must have been attractive today.]

‘It would be irresistible to a magician.’

The auction item we gave them was a magic book that the Wonshin Council had been keeping. It contained secrets about Blink magic, so it was enough to pique their interest.

Of course, not everyone came just to win the auction.

‘There must be quite a few people who just came to network.’

It had already become a meeting place among the young people of prestigious families, so there would be quite a few who visited simply for social purposes.

[Now we need to weed out the Magic Tower and Revoluca among these guys.]

‘That’s the job for today.’

Those who had slipped in here, hiding their identities. Today, we had to uncover the outlines of the two forces.

“Oh, you must be a scion of Delema.”

A blond handsome man approached, seeing my red eyes, and offered a handshake.

‘Was it the Graham family?’

He was the person I had seen in the restaurant earlier. Angel had added that he had a fiery temper.

“Nice to meet you. You’re from the Graham family, right?”

“Oh ho, how did you know?”

“The eagle’s bravery is the symbol of Graham.”

He had a badge on his chest. It had an eagle spreading its wings.

“I’m honored that a scion of Delema recognized it. I’m Laurel Graham.”

“I’m Ian Delema. I’m just a rookie who just graduated from the Magic Tower, so please be lenient if I make any mistakes.”

“There’s no way such a polite young man would do that.”

Graham laughed heartily and continued.

“Actually, I found the story you were telling Tina Zilia earlier interesting. You gave her a good one.”

“Ah, you were watching. My joke was too much.”

“No, it wasn’t. She’s always been talkative, so everyone must have felt relieved.”

Laurel Graham whispered and chuckled.

[He’s more open-minded than I thought.]

He seemed to like me quite a bit.

However, our conversation couldn’t continue for long.

“Hey! Would it kill you to make the door bigger? Do I have to bow my head to enter?”

A furious voice echoed inside the banquet hall.

As if she knew they were talking about her, Tina Zilia was entering.

“When does the auction start? Let’s hurry up and finish it! I’m going to buy it anyway.”

All eyes were on her as she shouted.

‘As expected, she’s attracting attention as soon as she enters.’

A small arc was drawn on the corner of my mouth.

– It seems like a good time. Start it, Angel.

– Understood.

Angel nodded, and at the same time, my fingertips moved.

Tszzz…

The remnants of black magic buried in Tina Zilia’s robe. I was activating it. It wasn’t a special magic. It was just for releasing a little bit of black magic energy.

‘Now, who is the guest from the Magic Tower?’

People’s eyes were on Tina. And I scanned their gazes.

[They must be detecting the black magic.]

If there were forces from the Magic Tower here, they would definitely react. The clues that the Magic Tower had about Revoluca were black magic and knights.

‘They must be desperate to sense the black magic.’

There was no way they wouldn’t react to the subtle black magic energy emanating from Tina.

[The game has begun.]

And at the same time, people were entering the banquet hall. Members of the Wonshin Council began to bring in the auction items.

“Well, thank you for waiting. We will now begin today’s auction.”

Most of the gazes that had been directed at Tina were shifted towards the auction items. However, there were still those who kept their eyes fixed on Tina.

‘Hmm… quite a few?’

Some narrowed their eyes, while others frowned. Seven people couldn’t take their eyes off Tina Zilia.

‘Those guys seem certain.’

Some of them were even looking at each other and exchanging glances.

[Those guys seem to be in the same group. Are they from the Magic Tower?]

They were definitely reacting to the black magic.

‘It could be Revoluca. They must be trying to find us, who framed them.’

Angel was also scanning them, identifying them.

– Let’s remember those guys for now.

– All confirmed.

In that fleeting moment, we also exchanged some kind of signal.

And the auction continued.

“First of all, I would like to thank the VIPs who have come to this event. I won’t say much.”

A member of the Wonshin Council, who was in charge of the event, drew attention.

“This is the magic book you’ve been waiting for. It contains Blink magic.”

Since they couldn’t keep looking at Tina, everyone’s eyes were shifted to the magic book first.

“I don’t know who among you will take this, but I would like to congratulate you in advance. Then, let’s start the auction!”

As the start of the auction was announced, people’s eyes were filled with anticipation.

Squeak!

The small door of the banquet hall opened again.

“Oh, I’m sorry. I’m a little late. I’ll participate too.”

Another man was entering.

[…Why is he here?]

Everyone’s head turned towards him.

‘Liu…?’

The person who appeared was another man with red eyes, Liu Delema.