The Failure Marquis Is A Genius [EN]: Chapter 12

2. Conspiracy: The Showman

20 years ago.

The Demon King Baal appeared on the Arcania Continent.

Who summoned him, or where he was summoned from, remains unknown.

The Demon King, appearing as if dropped from the sky, led a vast army to destroy the continent.

It seemed the world was coming to an end.

However, the hero Kyle and the seven guardians who helped him protect the continent fought the Demon King in a final battle.

The resistance army won the battle and succeeded in defending the continent.

The Demon King Baal was sealed somewhere in the Northern Mountains, and the hero Kyle disappeared.

The remaining seven guardians were called the Seven Stars and were revered by all on the continent.

But not everyone welcomed the sealing of the Demon King Baal.

There were always those who belonged to the Demon King’s army during the final battle, or who simply desired the destruction of the world.

They were called demon followers and operated under the name .

‘s black mages were scattered throughout the continent.

They engaged in all sorts of vile and dirty deeds in the shadows.

They had no moral compass.

Even the slightest ethics were a luxury.

Did they want the resurrection of the Demon King?

The leadership probably did.

The ordinary grunts were just affiliated with Twilight to satisfy their twisted desires.

And the necromancer named Raul before me was a typical low-level black mage of Twilight.

“Who are you?”

“Henon Tritis. The son of Marquis Gordon Lloyd.”

“Ah, I’ve heard of you. The prodigal bastard.”

Shouldn’t I be a celebrity at this point?

It seems everyone knows my name.

And all in a bad way.

“Heh heh heh, even if you’re a bastard, the son of a marquis is a bit much. I’ll just grab you and leave this place.”

Raul’s voice was full of confidence.

He didn’t seem to think he could be defeated at all.

“Consider yourself unlucky. Although only half, it’s my first time turning a noble into a ghoul. It’ll be quite poetic.”

“Well, I like unique experiences, but I don’t particularly want to become a ghoul.”

“Heh heh heh, you have no choice even if you don’t want to. Once you’re in my space, you’re just my prey.”

Chief Harrison was still standing blankly, looking at the headless body of his son.

I slapped him hard on the cheek.

Slap!

“Get a grip. If you stand here blankly, everyone will die. If you’re the chief, gather the people and get out of here.”

“Heh heh heh, who’s going to let you?”

At Raul’s gesture, another ghoul rushed at me from behind.

I could turn around and deal with it, but I didn’t bother to react.

Because I saw Sion move.

Swish!

Sion’s dagger, having closed the distance, tore through the ghoul’s neck.

The Water Lizard Steps he learned from his father, Sebastian.

I admired Sion’s bread-and-butter skill up close.

It was indeed an excellent movement skill.

The ghoul’s body, now headless, collapsed.

“Sion, you’re late. Were you waiting for me to get attacked by a ghoul?”

“…Of course not.”

His answer seemed a bit slow.

“Harrison! Are you still spacing out?”

“Ah, no.”

“I won’t say it again. Take everyone in the cave and get out. If you get in the way, I’ll cut you down first.”

“Sob, Jacob…”

Briefly mourning his son’s death, Harrison began to lead the people out of the cave.

He also took the soldiers who were asleep from the sedative.

“Go and kill. Tear flesh and drink blood. Convert your hunger, thirst, and starvation into the enemies’ fear.”

The necromancer Raul began to command the ghouls in earnest.

Nearly twenty ghouls rushed forward menacingly.

“Sion, if you kill fewer than me, you’ll be punished!”

My role and Sion’s were clear.

We had to stop the ghouls’ advance to buy time for the people to escape the cave.

A hot energy rose from my lower abdomen.

I began to use mana in earnest.

Flash!

My movements changed.

Using the sword skills I learned from the Heavenly Demon, I fearlessly stirred through the ghouls, widening Raul’s eyes as he watched.

“User? The prodigal bastard was a sword user?”

The ghoulish corpses had physical abilities surpassing ordinary people, but they were no match for a mana user.

Each time the sword was swung, the ghoul’s body parts were cut off like tofu.

These annoying undead don’t die even if an arm is cut off or a heart is ruptured.

I silenced them one by one, making sure to strike their heads.

Glancing to the side, Sion was also fighting well.

If we continued like this, we would smoothly deal with the ghouls and finish off Raul…

-Be careful! Roll to the left!

As soon as the Heavenly Demon’s voice echoed in my head, I immediately rolled to the ground without hesitation.

A black magic bullet grazed where I had been, creating a small hole in the ground.

If it weren’t for the Heavenly Demon Sword, my abdomen would have been pierced.

“You have eyes in the back of your head? Too bad.”

Raul clicked his tongue in disappointment, as if the attack had been a confident surprise.

“Is that all you have to show? If you don’t have more, the next thing to fall will be your head, not a ghoul.”

Indeed, the ghouls were almost cleared out.

In the first place, a low-level undead monster couldn’t be a match for Sion and me.

I still had a lot of mana left, and Sion seemed to have energy to spare.

Of course, the black magic bullets that Raul shot were a bit annoying, but now that I knew he had such a weapon, I could just avoid them.

But why was Raul so relaxed?

“You’re hiding something.”

“I don’t need to hide anything. I’ll send it to you soon.”

Snap!

Raul snapped his fingers.

Then, from the darkness where the ghouls had come out, an alien energy was emitted.

Ooooooh!!!

A deep and sonorous cry.

Followed by the sound of heavy footsteps.

Just from the sound, something ominous was coming.

Raul’s eyes sparkled with excitement.

“Heh heh heh, that’s good. If I turn high-level users like you into ghouls, I’ll create strong ghouls.”

Thump! Thump! Thump!

The ground shook.

Soon, the creature that appeared was a chimera with a terrifying appearance.

“Ugh…”

“Ugh!”

Sion, who usually had a strong stomach, rarely gagged.

How many people went into making that?

At least thirty must have been used.

People’s bodies were all disassembled and then pieced together haphazardly.

Below, several human legs of different sizes and thicknesses were attached like spider legs to support the massive body.

Above, instead of hair, several human arms were connected like chains, dragging along the ground.

To put it simply, it looked like dreadlocks. The number of strange arms created was over ten.

On the abdomen, three human faces were embedded in different directions, with expressions of grief and pain that were even more painful to watch.

“How is it? My life’s work, . Can you hear the hymn of those liberated from death?”

“I know you’re talking nonsense.”

“Heh heh heh, don’t worry. I’ll soon give you the honor of becoming parts of my masterpiece.”

I’ll pass on becoming part of that horrible thing.

Sion rarely expressed emotion.

“To think there was someone in the world worse than you, Master. I’m going to kill you. You’re not even human. Worse than Master.”

“Cough!”

I suffered unintended internal injuries from Sion’s area-of-effect damage.

Anyway, I agreed with her.

That guy doesn’t deserve to live.

“Sion, we don’t know what abilities that chimera has, so let’s test the waters first.”

“Understood.”

“Be careful of the black mage’s magic bullets. He’ll snipe you when your posture is broken.”

I gave Sion instructions and jumped towards the chimera.

‘Since it’s made of human flesh, it won’t be a match for me using mana.’

Having finished my calculations, I swung my sword at the right face of the chimera.

I didn’t know where its weak point was, but I thought the face would be the core rather than the legs or arms.

-You idiot! Watch out for its arm! It’s on the left!

I stopped my attack at the Heavenly Demon’s warning and immediately defended my left flank.

The long hair made of human arms was swung like a whip, covering me.

If I infuse mana into my arm and endure it…

Clang!

“Kuh-ugh!!!”

I was pushed back by the tremendous force and rolled on the ground five times.

Seeing me, Raon laughed wildly.

“Kuhahaha! My chimera is strengthened with all sorts of forbidden drugs. Even if you use mana, how can you handle it?”

It certainly has strength comparable to a monster.

“We can’t win with strength. Sion! Stall for time.”

“Understood.”

Sion and I were both humans with excellent fighting sense (Sion is the protagonist, and I have experience from numerous boss raids), so we immediately came up with a way to respond.

“Haaah!”

Sion entered the chimera’s range with a shout.

The chimera’s tentacle-like arms moved grotesquely, trying to strike or grab Sion.

Sion made full use of the Water Lizard Steps to evade them skillfully.

Kuwahhhh!!!

The chimera’s angry cry shook the cave.

And I, who was lurking like a snake, waiting for an opportunity, did not miss the moment when all the chimera’s arms were directed at Sion.

Thud!

I infused mana into my thighs and exploded it [channeling mana for a burst of speed].

With the stiffness felt in my muscles, I was already facing the left face and eyes of the chimera.

The monster was in pain.

‘I’ll send you off now. Rest in peace.’

Crack!

I plunged my sword deep into the left face.

The chimera staggered to one side and barely regained its balance.

“How dare you! Damage my masterpiece!”

Raon finally got angry and shouted in a frenzy.

I felt good to be recognized for doing well.

“Dark Arrow!!”

A black magic bullet tried to cover me.

I couldn’t find an angle to dodge it in the air, so I blocked it with the Heavenly Demon Sword.

Clang!

-Ouch, my back! Brat, I’ll get you later!

As expected, the Heavenly Demon Sword was solid.

It was unscathed even after blocking the magic bullet head-on.

After that, I blew up the right face of the chimera in the same way.

The only thing left was the middle face.

“Kuaaaa!!”

The black mage went berserk and poured out magic bullets, but it was easy enough to avoid if I focused and dodged.

Cough! Cough!

The chimera seemed to sense a crisis.

Now, rather than attacking Sion, it focused on defending the middle face by retracting all the tentacle-like arms.

With such a huge creature focusing on defense, there was no place for Sion and me to aim.

“This is difficult.”

Sion clicked his tongue.

“What is it?”

“I can’t see an opening.”

“Really? I can see one.”

If you block one place, another place will inevitably have an opening.

This was a natural principle.

And the weakness I found was not the monster.

It was the black mage Raul behind the monster.

Thud!!

I passed the chimera and ran straight at the black mage.

He wouldn’t have expected this.

The magic bullets were annoying, but I could just avoid them.

I’ll cut off his neck and finish it.

I rushed at Raul with all my might.

I watched his reaction as I went.

He would definitely be flustered and flustered…

‘He’s smiling?’

Surprisingly, Raul was smiling.

Even though I was about to arrive and cut off his neck, he was relaxed.

I had a bad feeling, so I tried to back off.

-Watch out for the ground!

The Heavenly Demon warned.

But I couldn’t change direction because of the momentum of the rush.

Crash!

A crack suddenly appeared in the dirt floor.

Then, something unidentified rose from below and bound me tightly!

A pain that squeezed my whole body came, and then my consciousness was shaken.

I felt suffocated.

Someone was holding my waist tightly.

-Tsk tsk. It’s over. I thought this brat would last a little longer…

The Heavenly Demon’s voice was skeptical.

As I regained my senses, I identified what had attacked me.

Surprisingly, it was tree roots.

Thick tree roots had burst through the limestone cave floor and were tightly binding me.

From between the rotten bark on the surface, a sticky sap containing mana and a dark gas were being emitted.

“Kuhahaha!! Did you really think I’d only rely on the chimera and neglect my defenses? I’ve seen more than a cartload of guys like you who thought they could surprise me and ended up getting caught!”

Raul said triumphantly.

“Young Master!”

Sion hurriedly tried to approach, but the chimera, now with more leeway, rampaged.

As a result, she was too busy dodging to even think about coming towards me.

I circulated mana through both arms and then struck the roots with the Heavenly Demon Sword.

However, the constricting force of the tree roots was so strong that they didn’t budge.

Raul chuckled at this.

“Hehehe, that thing binding you is a seed of the Demon Tree that I stole from the Twilight Church when I fled. It’s a precious treasure. Did you think you could cut it with mere strength?”

Why would the Twilight Church have a Demon Tree seed?

I put the question aside for the moment.

The first piece of information that came to mind was that the thing binding me was a plant-type tree.

And I was a druid.

Communicating with the natural environment was my job.

Especially since I had recently communicated with the oak tree that was Henon’s mother.

Raul, thinking I was already a goner, lost interest in me and focused on ordering the chimera to capture Sion.

In the meantime, I closed my eyes and concentrated.

Just like when I communed with the oak tree in the Marquisate, I tried to breathe and empathize with the cursed Demon Tree.

Then,

-I want to stop… Someone stop me…

I heard it.

The tree’s true voice, hidden among the madness eroded by mana.

I wanted to help this tree overcome the mana somehow.

As I desperately wished, I heard a *ting*!

[Warning! The current target is corrupted by mana.]

[Skill: Purification is activated.]

[Overcoming the mana with the power of exorcism.]

[Unable to overcome the mana.]

[Empathy is insufficient.]

My aptitude as a druid was lacking.

If so, I had no choice but to use this method.

I took out another acorn that I had put in my chest pocket.

This would be the second one I’d eaten, but I couldn’t afford to be picky in this urgent situation.

Crunch!

[You have consumed an acorn.]

[The druid’s empathy has greatly increased.]

[Vitality and energy are restored.]

Certainly, after becoming a user, the increase was incomparably greater than when I was a beginner.

My body was so full of strength that even the tree roots holding me flinched.

-Hey brat, what did you eat to suddenly get so strong?

The Heavenly Demon Sword, which had been watching my changes in real-time, was astonished.

I could tear the tree roots apart right now with the Heavenly Demon Sword, which contained the power of exorcism, but I approached it in a different way.

‘I’ll make the corrupted Demon Tree my ally.’

I decided and put my hand on the tree.

The moment my hand touched the mana, the system window popped up.

[Skill: Purification is activated.]

[Warning! The current target is corrupted by mana.]

[Overcoming the mana with the power of exorcism.]

[Mana overcoming successful.]

[Skill: Power of Nature is activated.]

[Making the surrounding environment your ally.]

[The corrupted Demon Tree responds to the druid!]

*Paaah!!!*

Green light burst out from the point where my hand and the tree roots touched.

The cave was filled with light.

Sion, who was running away, the necromancer Raul who was trying to catch her, the chimera, and the Heavenly Demon Sword all witnessed this scene properly.

“Wh, what is it?”

“!!”

-…

For a moment, everyone was mesmerized and watched the beautiful dance of the fireflies.

The dark energy emanating from the cursed Demon Tree was greatly reduced, and the foul-smelling sap turned into transparent sap.

-Ah… I’m regaining my mind.

The Demon Tree, now freed from the black magician’s control, regained its reason and reveled in joy.

I told such a sacred tree.

“It’s only for a moment. I can’t hold out for long.”

This was not a complete purification of the mana, but only a temporary suppression.

My abilities were not yet up to that point.

-That’s enough.

The tree roots released me on their own.

Raul, who witnessed this, widened his eyes.

“What is this!”

It wasn’t over yet.

The next target was the chimera.

The sacred tree that sprang from the ground tightly bound the chimera.

“Kieeee!!!”

The chimera struggled with all its might, but it was no use.

The power of the sacred tree was that great.

The chimera was completely bound.

This was a well-prepared meal.

“Haaat!”

I jumped up with my sword and chopped off the last remaining head of the chimera.

The chimera, with all its heads gone, slowly crumbled.

“Rest in peace.”

*Saaaah*.

As the chimera died, the many souls inside flew towards the sky.

Ascending to heaven, they were smiling with tears in their eyes.

Some thanked me and bowed their heads.

“This is absurd…”

Raul fell to his knees.

His body was already bound by tree roots.

I walked slowly towards him with my sword.

“Necromancer Raul. Are you ready to pay the price?”

Raul, perhaps because of the reversal of events I had caused, was in a panic and muttered to himself.

“To liberate the Demon Tree originating from the Twilight Church just by touching it? This doesn’t make sense.”

“Originally, the world is full of incomprehensible things. Farewell, then.”

I swung my sword towards his neck.

At that moment, he realized something and widened his eyes.

“Druid! You’re the druid we’ve been looking for!”

My sword stopped at Raul’s words.

“We’ve been looking for? What do you mean?”

“Hehehe, so you were the one.”

“Speak clearly.”

“Druid, you’re out of luck. The monster cult leader is looking for you. The entire Twilight [A group of demon worshippers] is looking for you.”

It was information I was hearing for the first time.

Among them, the cult leader was looking for me.

“If you spare me now, I’ll tell you everything about the Twilight. No! Take my hand. I’m from the Twilight. I can tell you who’s strong and what they’re like…”

“No, thanks.”

*Swish.*

I drew my sword horizontally.

A red line was drawn along Raul’s neck.

He grabbed his neck with an unbelievable expression and choked.

Then, his body and neck were eventually separated and he collapsed.

It was a villainous end.

“It’s over.”

I shook off my sweat-soaked hair.

As the black magician died, the Demon Tree he had been controlling was completely liberated, and even the faintly lingering mana completely disappeared.

-Thank you… Druid… May the blessings and peace of nature be with you…

“Rest in peace.”

The sacred tree, which had long since reached the end of its life, slowly turned to dust and disappeared as the mana disappeared.

The battle, which had been a mess, came to an end.

Unintentionally, I had revealed my true identity to those here.

Though it was only Sion and the Heavenly Demon.

“Young Master, what on earth…”

“Don’t ask anything. Let’s get out of here for now.”

“…Understood.”

As we went outside the cave, the blue sky and bright sunlight greeted us.

Being in the dark darkness and coming out to a bright place made the fierce battle we had just had seem like a dream.

The people of the Cave Manor and Village Chief Harrison, who had been hiding at the entrance, rushed over when they saw us alive.

“Ah, Henon! You’re safe.”

“The black magician! What happened to the black magician?”

Without a word, I showed them Raul’s severed head.

The relieved villagers shed tears and prostrated themselves.

“Oh, thank goodness… I’m so glad.”

The people were wailing.

I patted the shoulder of Village Chief Harrison, who was at the front.

“I’m the one who’s sorry. As a noble, I couldn’t protect you and allowed your families to be sacrificed to the black magician.”

“Don’t say that. We are grateful just for you avenging our enemies and saving our lives from that terrible thing.”

“I don’t know how to repay this kindness… Hehe.”

It was a sea of tears for a while.

I comforted and soothed all the villagers without exception.

As everything was coming to an end.

The useless freeloaders who had been sleeping all day woke up.

“Ugh… my head feels like it’s breaking.”

“I drank too much. But where is this?”

“What? I was definitely drinking in the village?”

Seeing the staggering soldiers, I felt annoyed for no reason and smacked them on the back of the head.

*Thwack!*

“Ouch! Why are you doing this?”

“Wake up, you bug-like guys. Get up and earn your keep now.”

“Even if you’re Henon, this is too much… Ugh!”

As they spouted nonsense, I added another smack to the back of their heads.

I showed them the necromancer Raul’s head and explained the situation.

The soldiers, who were initially skeptical, were shocked by the villagers’ testimony, Raul’s head, and the gruesome ghouls and chimera corpses they witnessed after entering the cave.

“Oh… God.”

“This can’t be.”

“How could such a terrible thing happen in the world.”

“Ugh! Uweeek!”

More than half vomited and cried out to God, expressing their condolences for the terrible tragedy.

After that, the cleanup was entirely the responsibility of the soldiers.

Ghouls and chimeras filled the carts.

Thus, I became the first madman in the Elteen Kingdom to bring back the undead instead of collecting taxes.

The fact that the villagers had given them sleeping pills was left unsaid.

I told the soldiers that the black magician had attacked and dragged them to the cave.

The soldiers, who had no memory of it because they had drunk too much, accepted it as such.

On the day we finished all the arrangements and left the Cave Manor.

All the villagers came out to see me off.

“Young Master, we will never forget this grace.”

“I repeat, as the son of the Marquis, it is natural to protect the manor under my command. There’s no need to go that far.”

“No matter what anyone says, our Cave Manor will be loyal to Young Master Henon from now on. To us, the only true noble is Henon.”

“Thank you for your kind words. Hold a grand funeral for the victims. When I return, I will report to my father and request manpower to help.”

“Thank you so much.”

I left in a carriage.

The villagers waved their hands with bright smiles and tears until they could no longer see us.

It was a send-off that made me feel their sincere gratitude.

The soldiers’ gazes as they watched me leave also changed.

Their eyes, which had been looking at a foolish and thoughtless madman, now had a surprised look that said, ‘The madman had this side to him?’ mixed in.

Well, I didn’t really care how the soldiers thought of me.

If I had cared about my reputation, I wouldn’t have been able to come this far.

Rather, I was curious about what Sion, the person closest to me, thought of me.

Sitting in the rattling carriage, I watched the setting sun shining through the window.

The red light of the sun swallowed the vast plains and illuminated my face.

Sion, who was sitting demurely across from me, spoke to me.

“Young Master.”

“Why.”

“I have something to say.”

“What is it?”

“…”

Sion started to speak, then hesitated for a long time, moving her lips.

“Is summoning someone and remaining silent a new conversation method that’s popular these days?”

“No, it’s not.”

“Speak quickly. The sun will set if you keep this up.”

Sion closed her eyes tightly and said to me, who was leaning against the window with my elbow on the sill and my chin propped up, half-slouching.

“For the first time in my life, I thought Young Master was a little cool!”

Was it because of the sunset?

Her face, illuminated by the sunlight, looked somehow red.

I couldn’t help but chuckle.

“Insolent. Maid. Know your place.”

“I’m sorry.”