How To Live As A Third Son Of A Failure [EN]: Chapter 218

Living as the Third Son of a Trash Novel – Chapter 219

After that whirlwind of swordplay, I slowly lowered my sword.

The surrounding scenery was a mess. Torn armor and broken sword blades were scattered everywhere, and the nearby ground looked as if a giant claw had swept through it.

‘The corpses……’

The bodies of the black knights, now hardly recognizable, began to burn.

It was the same scene as during the Bashrun territory war. There was definitely some kind of special magic on all Unholy Knights.

‘That amulet must have the magic on it.’

In the place where the corpses burned, a small amulet was invariably left behind. Thinking of them as similar to dog tags, I collected them all and let out a small sigh.

‘This is tough.’

Perhaps it was because I had unleashed Bain Lindaier’s third secret technique, but I felt my body becoming heavy and slowly headed towards the forest.

* * *

Blau’s eyes widened when he saw us returning with the captured mage.

He seemed to recognize the mage, so I gestured with my chin.

“Do you know him?”

“……He’s the one who periodically conscripted members of our clan.”

“So we brought the right one.”

Nodding, I waved my hand at Blau, who looked uneasy.

“Don’t worry. I’ve put restraints on him so he can’t use mana.”

“I see.”

“Don’t tell the others yet, just wait quietly. I’ll tell you the details after we’ve extracted everything we can.”

“Understood.”

Afterward, I borrowed an empty house from Blau, sat the mage on a chair, and tied him up securely.

Redran then opened the mage’s mouth and thoroughly examined the inside, just in case he had hidden any poison.

Despite all this, the mage was still unconscious and slumped over.

“He shows no sign of waking up. I wonder if there’s something seriously wrong with his body…….”

“It’s easy to check.”

At Ilia’s words, Redran stepped forward. He grabbed the mage’s index finger tightly and then bent it backward, breaking it.

With a sickening sound, the mage’s eyes snapped open. He then noticed his finger touching the back of his hand and let out a groan of pain.

“Ugh, uuugh…….”

Gagged, he couldn’t say anything and just glared, making Redran smirk.

“Oh, did it break? My bad.”

Redran apologized and then pulled the mage’s broken finger back into its original position.

“Uuuugh! Uugh! Ugh!”

“What? Should I just leave it folded like that?”

Redran folded the limp finger back up, and the mage’s eyes widened as if they would pop out.

“Uuuugh…….”

Anger was constantly flaring in Redran’s eyes. It was the result of learning that everything I had told him was true.

“I’ll remove the gag, so stay quiet.”

After speaking, Redran slowly removed the gag, and the mage glared.

“You goddamn bastards, if they find out you’re here…….”

Redran didn’t get angry, nor did he intimidate him. He simply gagged him again and grabbed the mage’s middle finger.

Then he repeated the series of actions he had done earlier. A gruesome sound echoed through the house, and the mage’s eyes turned red.

“Uuuugh…….”

Slowly, Redran removed the gag again.

“You bunch of retards, when the higher-ups find out you’re here…….”

It was simple. Redran gagged him again and repeated the same thing. After repeating the process several times, the mage’s right hand was permanently ruined.

Redran removed the mage’s gag and slowly opened his mouth.

“You need to watch your mouth. Looks like you’re the only retard here.”

The mage glared at the sneering Redran and tried to bite his tongue in the gap where the gag had been removed.

But as if he had already anticipated that, Redran grabbed the mage’s cheeks, forcibly opened his mouth, and poured in a potion.

Confirming that the tongue was slowly healing, Redran smiled wryly.

“Bite your tongue?”

Redran’s cold leather glove gripped the mage’s front teeth.

“Should I see if you can bite with your gums?”

“Plea, please…….”

“What? I can’t hear you?”

Redran’s hand moved, and Ilia turned her head away.

Blood flowed down the mage’s chin and stained the glove, causing Redran to frown.

“Disgusting.”

Then, as he tried to grab another tooth, I raised my hand.

“Wait.”

At my restraint, Redran stepped back without complaint. The mage, his eyes bloodshot with pain, struggled to lift his head.

“J, just let me ask one thing.”

I nodded at the mage’s question.

“What is it?”

“The reason you captured me alive is to extract information, right?”

“You’re asking the obvious.”

“If I answer everything you ask, will you spare me?”

“No.”

“No?”

“Yes. I’ll kill you after I hear everything.”

“So you’re telling me to cooperate now?”

At the mage’s anger, I raised my thumb and pointed behind him.

Behind him was a box piled high with potions. I had brought a lot of them in my subspace bag, just in case something happened in the Northern Wilderness.

Looking at the mage, who was turning pale, I spoke softly.

“As I said just now, I’m going to kill you whether you give me information or not. So it doesn’t really matter what choice you make. But it seems very important to you what kind of death you have, doesn’t it?”

“…….”

The mage looked at the potions and swallowed hard.

He must have imagined it – his body, which regenerates even when tortured.

I left him alone to give him some time to think, and the mage quickly muttered something.

Redran tried to gag him, but I raised my hand to stop him. After all, even if he chanted a spell, it would be useless because of the restraints.

“If you’re not a dragon, you’d better give up.”

At my words, the mage’s eyes quickly turned downward. After checking the restraints on his wrist, the mage’s face was filled with despair.

“Do you need more time to think?”

At my question, the mage, in despair, hung his head.

After a few minutes, perhaps feeling that there was no hope, the mage opened his mouth with a weak voice.

“If I cooperate, will you kill me cleanly?”

“I promise. There will be no pain.”

“……Okay.”

The mage, letting out a deep sigh, slowly raised his head.

“What do you want to know?”

“First, how to undo the binding magic on the dark elves.”

“That’s not difficult.”

The mage nodded and began to recite a magical formula, which Ilia began to write down.

Afterward, Ilia brought me the paper with the formula written on it. I showed it to Aphen, and the answer that came back was simple.

[He’s lying!]

‘Are you sure?’

[The structure itself is a nonsensical formula that can’t be established in the first place.]

Hearing Aphen’s words, I looked at Redran. Redran approached the mage and grinned.

“It’s okay. There are still plenty of places to break.”

* * *

The interrogation, which lasted for three or four hours, was over.

When Redran, who had gone out to dispose of the battered mage, returned, we sat down at the table and began to sort out the information we had obtained.

“The harvest isn’t as great as I thought.”

“He doesn’t seem to have a very high position.”

I nodded at Ilia’s words.

“He’s just a small fry. It’s ironic to call a mage a small fry, though.”

I asked everything I wanted to ask. But I didn’t get perfect answers to all the questions.

After clearing my throat for a moment, I slowly began to recite the information I had gathered.

“His name is Gerhid. He’s a black mage who, as his actions and appearance suggest, is naturally engaged in evil deeds. He’s loyal to the Neviros Order because he can conduct black magic research with abundant support.”

Hearing my dry words, Redran bared his teeth.

“It’s a damn trivial reason.”

“That’s what I wanted to say.”

I let out a small sigh and continued to read the information he had spat out.

“Anyway, Gerhid said that he went to the forest with the Unholy Knights whenever an order came down from above. His mission was to control the elves using binding magic to ensure smooth conscription and to place bindings on newly born dark elves.”

“What’s next?”

“He said that his mission was limited to conscripting dark elves. He said he didn’t know anything after that because it wasn’t his responsibility.”

“Where and how does he receive orders?”

“He said he didn’t know that either. He said that the black knights were the ones who took the initiative.”

“So we should have caught the knights, not the mage.”

I shook my head at Redran’s question.

“Redran, did the corpses burn when you killed the black mage?”

“The corpses? They didn’t burn.”

“Then it was right to catch the mage. The black knights probably have a way to kill themselves.”

“Ah, the knights from earlier all burned away. They’re funny guys, as if they’re not villains.”

Redran clicked his tongue and leaned back in his chair, sighing.

“Anyway, the way they do things looks like a cell organization, so it’s going to be quite a headache to track them down.”

As Redran said, they were taking the form of a cell organization, as criminal groups that do shady things usually do.

Perhaps the lower-level members don’t even know what purpose they’re working for, or what they’re working for, and just carry out orders like machines.

Therefore, the conclusion was that even if we went to the trouble of catching a tail, it would be very difficult to find out information about the higher-ups.

The atmosphere became quiet. As if to break the silence, Ilia opened her mouth.

“The black mage initially said that they had created a hideout in a canyon near the Blue Mountains and were staying there.”

“He did.”

“Shouldn’t we investigate that place as well, just in case?”

Hearing Ilia’s words, Redran, who had been listening quietly, laughed.

“Hey, do you believe that?”

“There’s always a chance.”

Redran snorted at Ilia’s cold reply.

“It’s obvious. He must have leaked it because it’s information we can’t verify. That’s why Cain asked if it was an abandoned castle instead. Didn’t you see his eyes shaking?”

“…….”

“This is a headache, traveling with an amateur.”

Redran was right. Interrogation that cannot be cross-examined is a double-edged sword. There could be a mistake of believing the other party’s false statements.

Still, I asked everything I could ask. The organization’s structure and size, purpose, the identities of the black knights, and so on.

I got answers, but as I said before, they were information that I couldn’t trust. But if I catch another guy later, I can verify it based on this.

But it’s certain information that the Forgotten Castle is the hideout. We knew the location and distance from our side.

“Anyway, the conclusion is that there’s good news and bad news.”

Hearing my words, Redran shrugged.

“Let’s hear the bad news first.”

“They found the Forgotten Castle one step ahead of us and made it their hideout.”

“They’re just running five knights to catch dark elves. Just the three of us in such a base? That’s definitely bad news.”

Redran shook his head uncomfortably and opened his mouth again.

“So, what’s the good news?”

“We don’t have to wander around the desolate Northern Wilderness for a long time.”

Currently, the barrier was under attack. But the cause was unclear, and there were many possibilities.

For example, they may be breaking the barrier itself somewhere in the Blue Mountains or the Volum Mountains. Or they may be trying to block the inflow of mana by targeting that route.

Of course, the ultimate goal is to strengthen the barrier.

But Kerwyn also asked me to find and eliminate the culprit if possible. It was a kind of sub-quest.

But now that their hideout has been revealed, there’s no need to wander around the Northern Wilderness and search.

“That’s good news.”

Ilia, ignoring Redran’s grumbling, looked at me.

“So what are you going to do now?”

“There’s no choice. Anyway, our purpose here is clear.”

“We have to go to the Forgotten Castle.”

“Yes. It would be nice if we could be fully prepared…… but time seems to be running out.”

What if these guys don’t come back soon after completing the easy task of controlling the dark elves?

Suddenly, the image of the guys who were trying to escape and inform my existence came to my mind.

If they find out that I’m in the Northern Wilderness, what tricks will they play?