Magic Is Learned For Nothing [EN]: Chapter 283

Magic Learned in Vain – Episode 284

# 284

The Marquis of Forse’s Fury (1)

The Marquis of Forse exited the Duke of Gong’s residence.

Baron Somaek, who had been waiting for him, asked cautiously. Marquis Forse was one of those people who rarely showed any emotional change. He always stared at people with cold, emotionless eyes.

His subordinates would freeze like frogs in front of a snake whenever they met his gaze.

But now, he was visibly angry.

His pale face was flushed red, as if he were about to explode like a volcano.

“Damn old men.”

A groan escaped from Marquis Forse’s lips.

“…….”

Baron Somaek patiently waited for Marquis Forse to continue.

“They’re trying to pin it on me.”

“What…….”

“This situation.”

“You mean the Bone Dragon incident?”

“Yes.”

“Hmm.”

Marquis Forse was responsible for the security of the capital, Poman.

They were holding him accountable for the Bone Dragon’s intrusion into the capital, Poman, and threatening the king’s life.

Of course, it couldn’t be said that Marquis Forse had no responsibility.

But just as the saying goes, ‘Ten strong men can’t catch one thief,’ how could he have known and prepared for this?

No matter how much they strengthened security, there was no reason why someone couldn’t sneak in if they were determined to hide.

He felt disgusted at the thought of them unilaterally shifting the blame onto him.

The problem was the Royalist faction.

They were trying to use this opportunity to get rid of Marquis Forse, a powerful ally of the Duke of Gong.

Marquis Forse was one of the Seven Great Powerhouses of the kingdom [influential figures in the kingdom].

His reputation was undeniable.

The ignorant commoners thought that the Royalist faction would gain an advantage just by executing Marquis Forse, one of the Seven Great Powerhouses of the kingdom.

The power of the people was surprisingly great.

The strength of the dynasty could be gauged by whether they lent their support to the regime or not.

In fact, royal authority was more often overthrown by popular uprisings than by external wars.

Nevertheless, those in power often forgot this.

“Then?”

Baron Somaek asked cautiously. But he couldn’t directly ask what he was really wondering.

‘What are you going to do now?’

He hoped he would get an answer that took his concerns into account.

The local nobles had a sense of loyalty in their own way. But the seasoned nobles of the capital had long forgotten about that loyalty.

If Marquis Forse was a sinking ship, Baron Somaek had no intention of being sucked into the vortex with him out of loyalty.

He had to find another lifeboat.

“The Royalist faction’s offensive is fierce. That damn Duke Sijinpi! He’s openly baring his teeth to devour me this time.”

“Hmm.”

Duke Sijinpi was a tiger whose strength was waning, but not a tiger without teeth. If provoked, he still had the power to bite off his opponent’s neck in one go.

If Baserabap had been the only one left in the Royalist faction, the royal authority might have already changed.

Baserabap was a moderate.

He never wanted a civil war.

Rather than having countless people die in a civil war, he might tearfully choose to have the royal authority changed. That was Baserabap’s tendency as Baron Somaek understood it.

On the other hand, Duke Sijinpi was a hardliner.

It was always Duke Sijinpi who clashed strongly with the Duke of Gong.

He held the military power of the Capital Defense Forces, so he couldn’t be treated carelessly.

Although the Duke of Gong held the position of Commander-in-Chief of the kingdom, he couldn’t shake the Capital Defense Forces, which was an independent unit.

That was why the Duke of Gong, despite having much greater power, had not yet been able to push out the Royalist faction.

“Are you sure the Crown Prince is not dead?”

If he kept spacing out like this, he might be taken down by the Royalist faction without anyone knowing. To overcome this situation, he needed a very big fish.

A fish that everyone would be satisfied with.

The missing Crown Prince.

“Yes, Your Excellency. The magic stone that signifies his life force is still lit.”

“Where the hell is that bastard hiding?”

Numerous information guilds under Marquis Forse’s command were searching the entire country. But they still hadn’t caught the Crown Prince. After he disappeared near the Dusselruf Mountains, they had no idea whether he had soared into the sky or sunk into the ground.

“It wouldn’t be easy to hide so perfectly unless someone was hiding him.”

“And who is that someone?”

“Recently, a suspicious person has emerged.”

“Count Legion.”

“Count Legion, huh…….”

Marquis Forse stroked his chin. He had only recently learned the name Legion. He had never heard of him before and had no interest in him.

But recently, it seemed like he kept hearing it, annoyingly.

He first heard his name in the port city of CM.

The name Don Deckman was heard the most, followed by Legion. It was because Baserabap had suddenly contacted Legion.

As far as he knew, there was no connection between Baserabap and Legion.

Of course, the one who stood out in this promotion was Frija, who had beheaded nobles and taken over the market in the port city of CM, and Legion.

He understood Frija.

If the port city of CM demanded independence, the kingdom would be in a very difficult situation.

A civil war could start from there.

The port city of CM was one of the largest cities in the kingdom.

The tax revenue from there was also enormous. Fighting with such a place would cause enormous damage to the treasury, even if the king himself reduced it to ashes.

Therefore, Frija, who became the mayor of the port city of CM, had to be appeased and made a noble. Fortunately, Frija did not resist much and accepted the noble promotion.

The problem was Legion.

He was promoted to Count, skipping a step.

Such a drastic promotion was rare. It was a special event that could only be seen in heroes who saved the country or those who defended the kingdom from foreign invasions.

Furthermore, he was said to be exempt from taxes for 20 years.

In addition to that, the Royalist faction thoroughly protected Count Legion to the point of being biased.

Why?

There must be a reason.

Baron Somaek was about to say the reason.

“Recently, the Dusselruf Mountains are where most of the informants we dispatched have gone missing.”

“The Dusselruf Mountains have many monsters, so that could be the case.”

“That’s right. It’s one of the three most dangerous areas in the kingdom. But……, one of the territories that borders it is the Alexander County.”

Marquis Forse wasn’t stupid.

The moment he heard that, he immediately understood how the situation was unfolding.

In an instant, the broken puzzle pieces fit together in his mind.

“Legion……Count is……, hiding him?”

“That’s what it looks like. And the Royalist faction already knows that. The continued disappearance of informants in the Dusselruf Mountains. We naturally thought it was due to monster attacks……, but even considering that, it doesn’t make sense that not a single one has returned, does it?”

“That’s right. So?”

Marquis Forse’s eyes narrowed even further.

“Three months ago, we infiltrated several informants into Count Legion’s territory to obtain information.”

“And no one came back?”

“That’s right. It’s a very suspicious situation. At the same time, it doesn’t make sense for Legion, a small lord in such a remote area, to suddenly be promoted to Count.”

“He might be hiding the Crown Prince.”

“I can’t be sure, but there’s enough reason to suspect it.”

“Good. Let’s strike him.”

“Yes?”

“We have to create evidence, even if it doesn’t exist now.”

“Ah.”

In order to survive, Marquis Forse had to create even a fake corpse of the Crown Prince and show it to the old men of the Duke of Gong’s faction.

But what couldn’t he do in this situation where the evidence was so clear?

He could just fabricate the information.

“Don’t tell anyone. Not even your wife.”

“Of course.”

“Prepare immediately. Even if the Crown Prince isn’t in his territory, we have to do it. That’s the only way I can survive. We can just manipulate the information.”

He was saying that he would make Legion a traitor.

“I understand. I’ll take action accordingly.”

“No one should know. I’ll take the lead this time.”

Fifteen days later.

Three thousand of Marquis Forse’s private soldiers split into individual units from his territory and headed towards Count Legion’s territory.

* * *

Shuttle did his best to execute the assassination plan of Count Legion.

The first plan was poisoning.

Although he had failed once, Shuttle was most confident in the area of poison, and above all, poison was the assassination method with the highest probability of not getting caught.

‘Ah…… but there’s a problem…….’

Legion had eaten poison before and regained his energy even more.

It was impossible. There was no human who recovered his energy after eating poison.

‘That can’t be. He must have put some tonic in it, thinking it was poison.’

Shuttle had already completely forgotten that he had almost died from testing it himself.

‘This time, I’ll definitely cut off your breath and get rid of this stress.’

So, he went to the dining room late at night when everyone was asleep.

Usually, the dining room is supposed to be outside, but this place was on the first floor of the mansion [meaning it’s inside the mansion].

The exclusive servants, maids, and servants all eat with the Count here.

The Count and the servants sit at the same table and eat?

It was unheard of. It was a sight he had never seen before.

From this point of view, Count Legion seems very easygoing.

He was quite surprised when he joked around with Hazel, the head maid. Sometimes, Omega and Mayfield, the goblins, also come and eat.

In fact, he doubted his eyes.

When he scanned the territory, it was full of strange things.

Well, he should have known from the time he rode the wyvern.

Anyway, he hadn’t yet recovered from the cultural shock. Nevertheless, the reason why he was executing the assassination plan of Count Legion was because he was afraid that he might die from overwork and stress.

“No one’s here, right?”

He didn’t run into anyone while coming to the dining room.

He saw the exclusive servants on night watch, but they didn’t notice (actually, they noticed, but they felt sorry for him because they saw him being scolded by the owner so much, so they left him alone).

He passed safely up to this point.

“Hehehe.”

Shuttle took out ‘a poison that melts away and kills in 1 minute if applied, and in 10 seconds if drunk,’ made by mixing scorpion and spider venom from his pocket.

Shuttle was more confident in poison than any black magician.

“This time…… goodbye.”

Shuttle, who entered the dining room, looked around.

No one was there. The ingredients that went into breakfast were visible everywhere. It seems they were prepared in advance.

He dissolved the deadly poison in a large cauldron.

This amount is enough to kill 100 people.

He felt a little uneasy about other people getting caught up and dying, but his anger was much greater than that.

“Do I look like a joke to you! Why do you always pick on me! Revive the Bone Dragon? By Christmas? You do it!”

Shuttle spoke quietly and in a strong tone.

It was then.

With a pat! The light in the kitchen turned on.

Surprised, he turned around. It was a very fierce-looking man. His name is Anda.

Was he called the head chef, Dekarson?

He didn’t know why a head chef looked so fierce. If he was placed next to Dreiser, they would look like brothers.

“Is that enough?”

“Wh, what do you mean?”

“I’m asking if it’s enough to release that much poison.”

His heart sank.

“Wh, what are you talking about, saying I released poison! I was just hungry and came to see if there was anything to eat.”

He thought he had made up a good excuse.

Head chef Dekarson smirked and approached Shuttle.

“Are you saying that a head chef…… is going to try to mess with me.”

“Mess with what? I’m the head chef.”

However, Shuttle was overwhelmed by the energy that head chef Dekarson, who was emitting an overwhelming aura, was emitting, and he unknowingly stepped back.

Before he knew it, his back was against the wall.

Dekarson grabbed a food ingredient in the cauldron with his finger and put it in his mouth. It was a deadly poison that could kill at least ten bulls in 1 minute…….

Chew chew.

He just chews it and swallows it.

Shuttle was horrified.

Wh, what? This crazy bastard!