Magic Is Learned For Nothing [EN]: Chapter 96

# 96

An Unprecedented Incident (1)

Queens and the young knights knelt before Count Persimmon.

“We apologize. We lost him.”

“Lost him?”

“Yes.”

Count Persimmon’s eyes twitched sharply. His expression hardened severely.

Queens glanced around.

The Count’s prized mansion was in ruins. Beautiful statues were shattered and scattered across the floor.

The aftermath of a fierce battle was evident at a glance.

“The treasure?”

“Fortunately, it’s safe.”

Only then did Count Persimmon’s expression ease. If the ‘Thunder Zircon’ had disappeared, he might have considered ending his life, regardless of his status.

He had spent a staggering 500,000 gold to acquire the ‘Thunder Zircon.’

An unimaginable sum.

No one knew the full extent of his financial strain, not even Heinz. Although he had secured a loan with a slightly lower interest rate, he would be ruined if this fact were to leak. The territory’s residents would undoubtedly riot, accusing him of squandering their tax money. That’s why he needed the mithril mine even more.

“Casualties?”

“Many are injured… but fortunately, no one died.”

“No deaths from a lich attack?”

This was surprising.

Undead are known as the natural enemy of humans.

Among them, a lich, recognized as a top-tier monster, hadn’t killed a single human? It was hard to believe. If it had indiscriminately unleashed wide-area magic, knights below the 4-star level would have been annihilated.

“I blocked it all.”

Count Persimmon said, sheathing his cherished sword, Gold Stamina.

“Pardon?”

“Just a lich’s attack. I blocked and deflected it all. Serves him right. You should have seen the lich’s bewildered face.”

“Ah, yes.”

Queens replied casually.

Even for a 6-star knight, it seemed improbable that he could block all of a lich’s attacks. He was undoubtedly a great knight, but his boasting was a bit much.

“Did you capture the lich, then?”

“Unfortunately, no.”

“Isn’t that a big problem? It’s a lich. It could spread curses or plagues throughout the city, potentially causing massive casualties.”

“I know. Secom is leading his men to chase it. Good news will come soon.”

“Ah, the Captain.”

Queens nodded.

Secom was the strongest knight in the territory, aside from the Count. He had recently broken through the 5-star barrier and become a 6-star knight.

The difference in combat power before and after was incomparable.

With Secom involved, they thought that even a lich would be captured in no time.

However, the lich that Secom and the knights were chasing was never caught.

It appeared and disappeared suddenly.

No one could guess whether it had soared into the sky or burrowed into the ground.

Some knights even doubted whether the battle they experienced was real.

The lich’s trail had completely vanished.

* * *

The ‘Goodbye Helicobacter’ passive skill was maxed out.

Thanks to that, Legion wouldn’t have to worry about constipation until he died. No worries about digestion either. No worries about sudden urges or diarrhea. He could poop whenever and wherever he wanted.

These days, Legion found even pooping bothersome and only did it once a week.

But Legion was sitting in the bathroom for quite a long time, unlike usual.

To be exact, he wasn’t sitting on the toilet but squatting on a piece of paper on the floor.

“Ugh… damn it.”

It wasn’t constipation, but it was so difficult that he felt dizzy.

Could this be!

Was this what the pain of childbirth felt like?

Something was being created in his lower abdomen. He touched his lower abdomen, and it was bulging out, like a pregnant woman.

He knew what it was.

Legion, who had woken up early, had dismantled the mithril. Then, unlike usual, two windows popped up in his vision.

1. Dismantle to increase your intelligence?

2. Dismantle to recreate a lower version of mithril? Legion pressed 2 and dismantled the mithril. Then, he immediately felt a reaction in his abdomen.

It’s coming out!

A lower version of mithril was coming out.

“Ughhhhh! It freaking hurts!”

-Endure it! You can only become a creator with patience and pain.

Shut up! Shut up! Why am I doing this!

-To be a good lord, you must have powerful subordinates. Think of it as the first step.

I don’t want to be a good lord!

-Then?

I want to be a rich lord!

-You want to be a rich lord? Then you need subordinates who earn money well, right?

Of course, I need such subordinates.

-You’ve now acquired a skill that can greatly enhance your subordinates’ abilities. When are you going to train them and raise them? Wouldn’t it be easier to quickly feed them this and level them up?

Yeah, it seems easier.

-Then put more effort into it!

Okay. Ughhhhh!

-It’s coming out! It’s coming out. The first lower version of mithril you’ve created!

* * *

Dreyzaire was sitting in the dining room.

The master had said they would have breakfast together, but the master hadn’t shown up yet. He had been waiting for 20 minutes already.

What on earth was he up to?

He knew that the master secretly went out early in the morning.

His room was right next door, so it would be strange if he didn’t know. After all, he was the master’s bodyguard.

But why didn’t he go with him?

There was only one reason for sneaking out. The master was a virile youth. Last time, he was caught watching a video replay device [likely an early form of VR or a personal viewing device] he bought at the department store by himself.

Dreyzaire understood and closed the door.

Dreyzaire wasn’t such an oblivious servant as to interfere with his master’s youthful pursuits.

But waking someone up to have breakfast together was really unexpected.

“Hey, you’re here early.”

The master appeared, carrying a sinister-looking silver tray.

“Yes, well, didn’t you ask me to have breakfast together? What’s that?”

Dreyzaire’s instincts were still alive.

The instincts of a 7-star warrior were warning him: Do not approach.

It had been a long time since he felt such unease.

Could there be a dragon heart in that silver tray?

“What is that?”

Dreyzaire asked.

“This?”

Dreyzaire nodded.

Legion’s complexion was pale. He looked like he had fought a war. He staggered slightly as he approached and placed the silver tray in front of Dreyzaire.

Then he went to sit in the seat opposite Dreyzaire.

He clapped his hands twice, and a young maid who was waiting in front of the dining room ran over.

“Breakfast, please.”

“Yes, I understand. It’s ready, so I’ll bring it out right away.”

The maids brought all kinds of food and placed it on the table.

But Legion and Dreyzaire didn’t pick up their forks. A battle of wits had begun. Legion’s complexion was pale, but his eyes were smiling.

His lips, too, were beaming.

Dreyzaire was getting uneasy.

“Eat it with the meat.”

“What are you… saying?”

“That thing.”

“The thing in this silver tray?”

“That’s right.”

“I don’t really want to open it.”

“No way.”

“I don’t want to.”

“Absolutely not.”

Dreyzaire judged that there was food in the tray that humans could never eat. Otherwise, there was no way the master would be making such an expression.

“Is it good for my health?”

“That’s right.”

“How much?”

“A lot.”

“Then you eat it, master.”

“I ate a lot.”

“Really?”

“I swear to heaven I ate a lot.”

“Can I eat it too?”

“Of course.”

Legion assured him.

Nevertheless, Dreyzaire couldn’t bring himself to open the silver tray.

“Eat it, it’s good for you.”

“Ugh…”

Dreyzaire couldn’t bring himself to reach for it. Glancing at Legion, he saw a strange ray of ‘Eat it, eat it, eat it, eat it now’ emanating from his eyes.

There was definitely an ulterior motive.

The master wasn’t the kind of person to be kind for no reason.

Even if he was the closest aide.

Just looking at how he made me pay for the broken wall with my own money, wasn’t he?

Dreyzaire grabbed the lid of the silver tray.

His hand was trembling.

Damn it, it was trembling more than when he fought the Red Dragon Preitia. What the hell was in it?

He took a deep breath and lifted the lid of the silver tray in one go.

“Is this a rock? Why are you telling me to eat this? And it smells kind of fishy…”

“Ahem…”

Legion cleared his throat. He had washed it, but as expected, his sense of smell wasn’t normal because he was a 7-star.

“Eat it.”

“Why? Why are you telling me to eat this…?”

“Eat it. It’s good for you!”

“You eat a lot, master!”

“You can’t eat that which is mixed with my blood and sweat?”

“Just kill me.”

“Tsk.”

Legion’s eyes began to blaze.

He was going to see how effective it was, but Heinz was resisting. Well, he hadn’t even started using the Bidet Staff yet. Let’s do it now.

Legion took out the Bidet Staff from his chest. It was really good exercise. He felt a heavy energy as he grabbed it with both hands.

The skill ‘Gang Up’ was activated.

“You really won’t eat it?”

Dreyzaire also clenched his fist.

Even if he died, he didn’t want to eat that. Even if it raised his magic power by 100 percent.

“If you don’t eat it, you’re dead. You.”

“Damn it, let’s do it. I can’t eat it even if I die.”

* * *

Dreyzaire climbed the mountain behind the mansion.

Tears welled up in his eyes. He couldn’t live with the filth and sorrow. His parents didn’t give birth to him to suffer this.

It seemed that God was punishing him.

Otherwise, he wouldn’t have given him such misfortune in a row.

There were many good lords in the world. He had met lords who paid a lot of money. He had met lords who gave titles. He had met lords who gave half of their property.

There was even a lord who offered his daughter.

One lord even approached him, saying that his wife was very pretty. That was a crazy bastard.

But Dreyzaire snorted and rejected them all.

He didn’t want to mortgage his free life for a few pennies.

His dream was to be the strongest warrior.

But what was this situation!

He had to be tied down for 39 years, receiving pocket money that would fly away after drinking a few times.

Yeah, let’s just die.

Rather than live like this.

His parents would understand.

The only thing he regretted was not becoming a Dragon Slayer. He was going to train a little more and compete against the Red Dragon Preitia once again in a do-or-die match.

It was then.

-Ding-ding. The skill ‘Overeating is Bad for You’ has been created. Every time you dismantle a mithril gem created by your lord, your intelligence increases by +1. Instead, your weight increases by 1 kilogram. If you exercise moderately, your weight will be maintained.

You can use the auxiliary skill Gas Revitalizer.

Use the auxiliary skill when the gem passed by your lord is impossible to pass through your throat.

“W-what is this?”

Dreyzaire was very embarrassed.

He rubbed his eyes. The letters engraved on his retina did not disappear. It was a sight he couldn’t believe.

“C-could it be… that my lord foresaw that this phenomenon would occur?”

Dreyzaire couldn’t believe that such a skill existed.

Just having his intelligence increased by +1 made his head feel very clear. Memories that had passed by and were not well remembered were slowly resurfacing.

It didn’t seem that only his memory had improved. What should I say? His cognitive ability had also improved.

“I, I have received heavenly grace from my lord.”

Dreyzaire knelt down.

The heart that had hated him for a moment disappeared like snow. He felt very shabby for having harbored foolish thoughts about his lord.

To bestow such grace! What an amazing master!

Dreyzaire shouted to the sky.

“Looooord! I’m sorry!”

Dreyzaire’s heartfelt cry echoed in the mountains.