Magic Is Learned For Nothing [EN]: Chapter 58

The Mansion of Horror (1)

Soul, the five knights, and the mercenary band arrived at Alexander Territory.

The journey took about fifteen days, and they suffered quite a bit due to the lack of roads. Sitting in the saddle for so long made their buttocks ache.

They hadn’t seen a proper village on the way here.

The map, made by who knows who, was terrible, and they took several wrong turns. They had no choice but to camp out on their way here.

They couldn’t wash properly, so their beards were unkempt.

“Ah, this was a really annoying trip.”

Soul spat on the ground as he said that.

He was a knight favored by Count Persimmon. Many people knew that. Perhaps because of that, Soul often acted presumptuously.

People praised him for being honest in front of him, but behind his back, they would curse him for being rude.

“Which way shall we go?”

Cox asked.

He was originally a friend who became a knight with Soul, but now he was in a subordinate position due to the difference in skill.

“We need to check the mithril mine first, right?”

“That’s right.”

“Do you really think it’s there?”

“If it is, it could be a great source of income. Mithril mines are quite rare, after all.”

“Then what do we have to do to swallow it up? Just get rid of the lord of this small territory?”

“The mercenaries who came first searched the Dusselph Mountains first. They couldn’t return due to monster attacks. It seems we need someone familiar with the geography here. I think it’s best to start by speaking favorably with the lord.”

“Do we really have to go that far? To the lord of such a small territory? I think it would be better to just get rid of him and make him talk.”

“Even the lord of a small territory is still a noble. I don’t think we need to create unnecessary conflict.”

“Alright. Then I’ll leave the talking nicely to you. Can you do it?”

“I understand.”

“You know what to do if words don’t work, right?”

Soul swiped his thumb across his neck. He meant he would just do it his way.

“As you wish.”

Cox nodded.

His background was strong. His position wouldn’t be threatened by the disappearance of a lord from this remote territory.

If they could get their hands on the mithril mine and return, it was certain that the death of this territory’s lord would not be known to anyone.

“Let’s go. Hyah!”

They spurred their horses towards the mansion where Legion was.

* * *

“They’re coming.”

Bacon shouted as he entered the mansion.

Legion, who had been deep in thought while sitting in a chair in the dining room, jumped up.

“They’re here?”

“Yes, they’re here.”

“How many are there?”

“There are thirty-five in total.”

“Thirty-five, huh.”

Legion fiddled with his triple chin. *They sent thirty, so adding the ones coming, that makes sixty-five in total. Still thirty-five short.*

*But every customer is precious.*

If someone saw this, they might ask, ‘Isn’t that human trafficking?’

Legion could say with certainty.

This isn’t human trafficking. It’s a one-hit-three-kills through a legitimate transaction! One action, three benefits! Killing two birds with one stone. Saving a guy who attacked a noble and deserves to be beheaded by summary judgment, marrying off his old bachelor sons, and sending those poor minority women from the remote regions—though they aren’t human—off to get married.

How creative is this economic theory?

The problem is how to persuade them…….

Since they’re the second group coming, they must have made thorough preparations.

-What are you going to do?

Mark asked.

I’ll have to talk to them nicely.

-Do you think that makes sense?

Mark retorted in disbelief.

‘Everyone, welcome to Legion’s territory. From now on, you will have a delicious meal and take a bath. Why? Because you will soon be getting married. We’ll soak you in fragrant water and send you to lovely Orc women. Ah! Don’t worry too much, you’ll be able to see your parents once or twice a year.’

You’re not going to persuade them like that, are you?

Mark couldn’t understand Legion at all.

-Put yourself in their shoes. You went to someone’s house.

And?

-The host gives you food, washes you, gives you money, and even marries you off. How would you feel?

I’d feel incredibly good.

-Really?

Of course. They give me food, wash me, give me money, and marry me off, what’s bad about that?

-…….

Mark was momentarily speechless. Now that he thought about it, it was true. Who would think badly of being given food, being washed, being given money, and being married off?

Wow! With an IQ of 103, he thinks very three-dimensionally. I see you in a new light. You’re the best!

-You’re awesome!

Right?

It looks like it will go according to plan. Legion shouted to his exclusive servants.

“Now, play the music! Welcome the guests!”

* * *

Boom chuck~ Boom chuck~ Boom chuck~ Boom chuck!

Soul, the knights, and the mercenaries stood blankly in the center of Legion’s mansion, fully armed.

They rode their horses right up to the mansion entrance.

It was very rude to the lord. Nevertheless, the lord smiled and didn’t voice any complaints.

They didn’t know the lord was so fat.

He looked like a small troll from the monster encyclopedia [a fictional reference book].

He wore luxurious clothes and greeted them with open arms.

“Welcome to the Dusselph Mountains! I welcome your visit.”

The fat lord smiled really brightly. He looked like he was so happy he was going crazy.

On both sides, about twenty men were playing percussion instruments.

Ding-a, ding-a.

It was closer to noise than music, as if they hadn’t been learning for very long. Nevertheless, they were blowing on their fingers and playing diligently.

It was one of the welcoming greetings that Bacon and his men had been practicing hard for the past few days.

To top it off, they even composed a song.

“Nice to meet you, good friend~ This is Legion Territory.”

Legion was very satisfied when he heard the song.

Soul and the knights were at a loss for what to do at the unexpected hospitality.

The situation unfolded very differently from what they had imagined. The situation they had imagined was—

First, they would arrive at the lord’s mansion with a scary atmosphere. The lord would come running out in a hurry. They would suppress the lord’s spirit with an oppressive atmosphere. The lord would be frightened. The frightened lord would look for someone to help him. The knights who served him would come running. But what skills would knights in this backwater have?

They would beat them to a pulp with great skill.

The lord would tremble.

Then Soul would ask coolly.

“Where is the mithril mine? If you hand it over to us, we’ll give you a generous price.”

It was the best-case scenario. If it had proceeded like this, there would have been no need to worry.

But the current situation was so far from what they had imagined that it was difficult to grasp how to deal with it.

“I am Legion, the lord here. You must have come from afar, so let’s talk while having a meal.”

Legion opened the front door of the mansion.

Eight beautiful maids bowed to them simultaneously. Hazelre and the other maids of the mansion were quite beautiful.

It wasn’t that they deliberately only picked pretty women, but it would be right to say that’s how it turned out as they lived.

Of course, Legion didn’t think so at all.

Since when, Legion would let out a deep sigh every time he met the maids.

“Our maids are too ugly.”

And he would say this and shake his head. It was the day Hazelre threw her resignation at his face again and left.

Everyone cursed Legion, and he had no choice but to go to Hazelre and promise not to make any more derogatory remarks about her appearance before he could call her back.

The knights swallowed hard as they looked at the maids.

Perhaps because of the quite arduous journey, they looked too beautiful.

“Nice to meet you, good friend, this is Legion Territory.”

They would have felt better if it weren’t for that strange song.

“Come on in, come on in. A delicious meal is prepared for you.”

Somewhat relieved by Legion’s grand welcome, the knights and mercenaries entered the mansion.

Creak-

The door-

Closed.

* * *

“Wow, this food is really delicious.”

Soul was surprised.

He couldn’t imagine that such delicious food would come out of this remote territory. Whoever the chef was, he was no ordinary person.

It seemed even more delicious than the food he had eaten at Duke Trump’s mansion before.

“I agree. It’s really delicious. The chef is great, but the ingredients are all incredibly fresh too.”

Cox also nodded. Not only them, but all the subordinates seemed satisfied.

They hadn’t eaten a proper meal during the ten-day journey.

All they had prepared was two to three days’ worth of emergency rations. There were two villages on the map, so they had prepared lightly for the journey.

They didn’t expect to not find a single village.

Well, it was a map that was decades old, but they didn’t expect the error to be this big. So they had to camp out from the first day and hunt to get food.

Even when they barely caught mountain goats or rabbits, they didn’t have any spices to season them, so the meat had a strong gamey smell. Soul, who had a particularly refined palate, could hardly eat.

He was very edgy, and his personality became increasingly nasty.

Cox was dying trying to cater to Soul’s whims.

But now that such delicious food was coming out, he couldn’t help but feel good.

Soul’s face, which had been frowning all day, brightened up.

The subordinates who had been watching him could finally relax.

“How is it? The taste of the food.”

Legion asked.

“It’s very good.”

Soul replied. He looked languid, probably because he was somewhat full.

“That’s a relief. The chef put a lot of effort into making the food.”

Legion introduced the chef.

Chef Decarson came out of the kitchen.

The knights flinched the moment they saw him. They unconsciously reached for their swords and almost drew them. He looked terribly fierce. If they didn’t know he was a chef, they would have mistaken him for a serial killer.

“This is Chef Decarson, the pride of our territory.”

As Legion introduced him, Decarson silently bowed his head.

The knights gave him a short round of applause. How he looked was how he looked, and delicious was delicious.

“By the way, what is the food we ate?”

Cox asked.

He was very meticulous and careful.

Soul was skilled, but he was often frivolous. Because of this, he often did things that caused mistakes or misunderstandings, and sometimes the other party would try to kill him. The higher-ups knew this, so they put the experienced Cox next to Soul.

Cox was feeling a considerable sense of unease in this mansion.

He couldn’t pinpoint what it was, though.

The fat lord, the beautiful maids, the servants with strange appearances. There was nothing he liked.

If there was one thing, it was just this food. That’s probably why the subordinates were going crazy and indulging in this food.

Cox had already checked if there were any toxic ingredients. There was no poison in the food.

But Cox was still not letting his guard down.

The sense of unease had not subsided.

“The food you ate is excellent for boosting energy.”

“Energy?”

“That’s right. I can guarantee this much, if nothing else. It’s very good for the body. It’s a food that you can only taste in our territory.”

Legion said with a gentle smile.

Of course, there were a few things he didn’t say. *The food you ate is hydra meat.*