Magic Is Learned For Nothing [EN]: Chapter 431

Ominous City (1)

Legion, Baserabap, and a hundred Royal Knights personally appointed by King Lauzel were present in Conjuring, a commercial city that could be considered the gateway to the kingdom.

Legion’s mouth protruded as much as his forearm. He had been grumbling constantly on the way to Conjuring.

Back in Poman, the capital, he had met Drezzer, Bacon, Mamma Ujiro, and James, whose presence was so insignificant that he was terrified of being fired at any moment.

It was after meeting them that Legion learned the truth.

“You guys were the ones who bombed with the Wyvern squadron?”

“We were very lucky. Their air defenses were terrible. Moreover, there weren’t many mages. Just a bunch of knights.”

The reason the king always brought mages was because of the barrier. Mages used magic that had both physical and magical resistance. Even lower-level mages activated shields to protect themselves.

It was a slightly different concept from the magical defense used by knights.

If magical defense was a type of internal energy that protected oneself, the mages’ shield protected an entire area.

Moreover, mages could use all sorts of mana stones to enhance their defenses.

For example, what if a mage spent money to set up five types of shields?

It was possible.

It was like having a defense system far superior to one’s original abilities.

However, the mages of the Nex House Kingdom were too complacent.

Perhaps it was because they doubted there would be any danger within their kingdom.

They only deployed their original defensive shields. They only installed one shield while protecting the royal family. Originally, they should have mobilized mana stones to install five shields. That was in their textbook.

If a five-layered shield had been installed, the Wyvern squadron would not have achieved such great results. At least the destructive power would have been reduced by more than half.

The mages’ complacent response created a major disaster.

Their laziness turned the Nex House Kingdom into paupers overnight.

They couldn’t even regret it. They had already been caught in the bombing, unable to even gather their bones, and turned to ashes.

“Amazing. You guys blew away the King of the Nex House Kingdom.”

“The boss is no joke either. I met Shuttle on the way. I heard from him. He said you were acting as a Super Janus [a master of disguise and deception] and embezzled 400 million gold.”

“Hmm. You heard?”

“Shuttle told me it was top secret.”

Crunch.

Legion clenched his teeth. That Shuttle bastard, he clearly said it was top secret, but he’s blabbing it all over the place? I can’t let this happen. I need to send a messenger to shut his mouth again.

At this rate, everyone he meets will-

“This is top secret. The president told me not to tell anyone.”

“What is it?”

A random extra, who wasn’t curious at all, asked.

“The president swindled 400 million gold from Duke Trebia. Duke Trebia is half out of his mind and chasing after Super Janus.”

“Why is the lord chasing Super Janus when he swindled 400 million gold? And who is Super Janus?”

“There’s someone like that. Anyway, this is top secret. Don’t tell anyone.”

He would probably blab like this and then grab another extra passing by and blab again.

At this rate, the rumor that Duke Legion actually backstabbed Duke Trebia and embezzled 400 million gold, not Super Janus, would spread quickly.

I have to shut his mouth.

He really has a big mouth.

“What are you going to do with the money?”

“Only 200 million gold is mine. I have to give the rest back to the people who worked with me.”

“Still, 200 million gold. It’s too much to even imagine. If you think about it, the boss was able to get that money because we bombed the Ice City resort, right?”

“Hey, hey, don’t covet my money. It’s all the result of hard work.”

“Who said anything? I’m just saying, please consider our efforts too.”

While saying that…

These guys were doing the ‘envelope, envelope opened’ [a gesture implying bribery] with both hands.

I really don’t know why all my subordinates are like this. Are you guys crocodiles? Why are you all trying to rip me off!

“Then do me a favor.”

“A favor?”

“Do you know Don Quixote?”

“Of course, I know. Don Quixote, one of the kingdom’s Seven Strongest. A pitiful character for some reason.”

“Yeah, he’s pitiful this time too. Duke Trebia is seeing red right now. The people he’s chasing are Super Janus, Don Quixote, Jack Nicher, and Preityaa.”

“Preityaa? That Red Dragon Preityaa? Did you meet her?”

“Yeah, that sister’s body is amazing.”

“Didn’t she say anything about me?”

“Say what?”

“That she misses Drezzer. That she wants to meet him someday.”

“No. She didn’t say anything like that.”

“Think hard. She must have said something like that.”

“She didn’t even mention Drezzer’s name. It looks like she’s completely forgotten about you.”

Drezzer held back the tears that were about to pour out. He had worked day and night, risking his life to be recognized by her. But she still didn’t think he was good enough.

Okay, 9-star!

If I reach 9-star, I’ll be able to compete with her. Then maybe she’ll pay attention to me.

Alright!

I swear.

I will become a Super Grand Master!

“Do you like Sister Preityaa?”

“She’s attractive, isn’t she?”

“She was terribly ugly. Her body is good, though.”

“The boss needs to get his eyes checked. The most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen looks ugly to him. He even dissed her for being ugly.”

“What’s so pretty about her?”

“This is a big problem. A big problem. If he doesn’t fix those eyes, he’s really going to get a barrage of criticism from the readers. Does the writer have any sense or not?”

“Hey, don’t criticize the writer, he’s pitiful. He’s compressing the story so much that he’s about to lose all his hair.”

“Next time you see him, tell him. To fix those eyes.”

“What’s wrong with my eyes? Seriously.”

“Only the boss doesn’t know. How strange the boss’s eyes are.”

“Whatever. Just do me a favor. Find them and give them the money.”

“How much?”

“50 million gold per person.”

“How much?”

Drezzer stared at Legion with a gasp! He knew the boss was generous.

But he never thought it would be this much. 50 million gold per person.

It was an unimaginable amount.

In fact, he thought the boss could just eat that money himself.

Even if he didn’t give it to them, they wouldn’t be able to say anything. Although they would grind their teeth.

However, the boss was generous enough to find them and give them 50 million gold each.

A gasp naturally came out.

He really respects him at times like this.

Bacon and Mamma Ujiro, who were listening, felt the same way. It was a different level of generosity than theirs.

James clapped and shouted.

“Bravo! Bravo! As expected, President! President is the best! I will spread his name far and wide to the world.”

Drezzer, Bacon, and Mamma Ujiro looked at James with dumbfounded expressions.

James lowered his head and said.

“I don’t want to get fired.”

“If you don’t want to get fired, put in the effort. Don’t be so anxious. Create something special, like Bacon learning the Fire Fox technique.”

“I can’t use magic.”

“Learn superhuman strength, then.”

“Yesss.”

James answered in a barely audible voice. He was seriously considering learning superhuman strength to sell medicine or something.

“Anyway, go give them the money.”

“What about the commission?”

“What commission? You get a salary.”

“Hey, why are you being like this? So stingy.”

“What, you robber…”

Legion reluctantly gave them 100 gold each. They were happy to use this money to drink to their hearts’ content.

They said that if they ordered the finest liquor from the Vampire Kingdom at a club, women would line up.

“Is the boss going to the territory?”

“No.”

“Then where are you going?”

“Don’t talk to me. You’re really annoying me.”

With that, Legion parted ways with Drezzer and came to Conjuring with Baserabap and the hundred Royal Knights to welcome the thirty-fifth princess of the Empire.

“Is this Conjuring?”

Legion, who had arrived in the city, looked around and asked Baserabap.

He was a duke, but also a country bumpkin.

He had many exciting adventures in the past few years, but he hadn’t traveled around cities much.

Siem, the port city.

Las Vegas, the city of passion.

The enormous taxes from these two cities were making Legion’s finances flush.

Thanks to that, the opening date of Wyvern World was also brought forward.

Silkeut, who was in charge of the overall construction, confidently predicted that it would open within half a year.

In other words!

In half a year, he would be the richest man in the kingdom.

Without an agreement with the Wyverns, benchmarking was impossible. This was true even for the mighty Empire.

Until now, the people of the continent had never thought of making agreements with demi-humans.

They thought of them as beings to be exterminated, not beings to live with.

Legion was shaking that deep-rooted ideology to its core.

When Wyvern World opened, countless merchants and nobles would follow him.

But the ship had already sailed.

He was far ahead, and it would be a long time before the latecomers could catch up.

In the meantime, he just needed to rake in the money.

However, this place, Conjuring, was a city without any major characteristics. There were no tourist attractions.

Except for the large-scale market that was held. At a glance, it seemed that goods from each kingdom were being traded in large quantities here. It was complicated and smelly.

“It’s complicated, isn’t it?”

Baserabap asked.

“Yes.”

“It’s because merchants from the Empire and the four northern kingdoms flock here all at once.”

“Only here?”

“That’s right. It’s forbidden by law for them to move deep into the inland. Those who have permission can, though.”

“Why?”

“They’re likely to be spies.”

“Hmm. I see.”

“Even trivial matters to us could be very high-level information to them. That’s why His Majesty only allows merchants from other kingdoms to enter up to this point.”

“I see. By the way, where are we staying?”

“Grand Budapest Castle.”

“Not a hotel?”

“There are only love hotels here. It’s not suitable for serving royalty.”

“Grand Budapest Castle… fancy.”

“Here he comes. The lord of this place.”

A very flamboyant-looking man and escort knights in white armor were rushing towards them.

The handsome man looked at Legion and was startled. He was obviously more handsome than himself. He narrowed his brows imperceptibly. He had an unpleasant expression.

Legion didn’t care. Everyone in the world knew that he was more handsome than him. He thought, ‘What are you going to do even if you wrinkle your ugly face?’

“How have you been, Great Sage Baserabap?”

The man bowed deeply to Baserabap.

“It’s been a while, Count Annabelle.”

The man named Annabelle shrugged his shoulders. He had an expression that said, ‘Have you ever seen a young high-ranking noble like me?’ He looked at Legion triumphantly.

“And this person?”

“Ah, let me introduce you. I think you’ve heard the story. This is the newly promoted Duke Legion.”

“Du, Duke Legion?”

He seemed more shocked by the word ‘Duke’ than by the name Legion.

Counts and Dukes were both high-ranking nobles, but there was a world of difference between them.

No, the difference between a Count and a Marquis was also enormous. There might be one Marquis out of 100 Counts.

Dukes were on a different level.

But…

He couldn’t believe that such a young man was a Duke.

He had heard about the newly appointed Duke Legion. He thought he would be an elderly man in his 60s. He didn’t care who became a Duke, so he immediately erased it from his mind.

But…

He looked younger than himself at first glance.

He was probably in his early 20s at best.

How could he become a Duke at this age? His father’s halo? The glory of his family?

Whatever it was, Annabelle’s mood soured as he looked at Legion. He didn’t like him from the first time he saw him. The halo-like effect radiating from his back made him even more annoyed.

“What are you doing? Not paying your respects to His Excellency the Duke.”

Baserabap’s displeased voice was heard.

Most of the young nobles who saw Legion showed a similar reaction to Annabelle.

How did you become a Duke?

Is your dad super successful?

Is your family’s backing super strong?

Because that’s the kind of expressions they had.

But hadn’t Baserabap been watching Legion the closest?

The kingdom had saved its life several times thanks to Legion. If there was any reward greater than that, it wouldn’t be a waste to give it all to Legion.

Therefore, he didn’t like any of the nobles who made such expressions while looking at Legion.

“Yes? Ah, yes. I pay my respects to Your Excellency the Duke.”

Annabelle put his hand on his chest and greeted him perfunctorily.

Baserabap’s deep eyes dug even deeper.

“Can’t you do it properly! His Excellency the Duke! His Excellency the Duke, one of only two in the kingdom! He is not someone you can dare to greet carelessly!”

Baserabap’s voice echoed loudly.

Annabelle’s face, after hearing Baserabap’s scolding, was so badly distorted that it was embarrassing to watch.