The Failure Marquis Is A Genius [EN]: Chapter 65

9. Relic: The Prodigal of Daedong

Escaping became much easier after the shared vision was possible.

I occasionally possessed trees to check which direction the encirclement was narrowing, then led Mother in the opposite direction.

Eventually, the time limit expired, and a message appeared indicating that I had successfully endured for 15 minutes.

[Second Clearance Complete.]

However, it seemed that one hour was the limit, as Merlin and Mother were surrounded by the elven warriors.

The old elf at the forefront looked at Mother and asked quietly.

The elaborate attire and long white beard suggested he was the Elder leading the elves.

“We forgave you for abandoning your race and bearing a tainted seed. Yet you still commit such acts?”

“Elder, Merlin and I have tried to live as quietly as possible, but those around us wouldn’t allow it.”

“That too was something you two had to endure. Failing even that, you committed the grave sin of murdering members of the tribe, so you must be judged.”

At the Elder’s gesture, thirty elven warriors slowly approached Merlin and Mother.

“Be careful of the boy. He possesses an unknown power.”

In the end, we had to fight the elven warriors.

A system window appeared before my eyes.

[The final clearance conditions are revealed.]

[Win the engagement.]

It was a difficult mission.

The three I killed initially were drunk and completely unguarded, seeing Merlin’s young appearance.

On the other hand, the thirty surrounding Merlin now were tense, slowly tightening the noose.

But I had to do it.

The druidic abilities I had cultivated were by no means insignificant.

By appropriately mixing skills in the right places, I could create sufficiently effective pressure against the many.

‘Let’s start lightly with Bind.’

[Wood Control activated]

[Bind cast]

The elven warriors who were approaching staggered as their ankles were entangled by tree roots rising from the ground.

“Ugh!”

“Cut it quickly!”

I couldn’t give them a chance to escape.

I immediately linked the skill.

[Stone Control activated]

[Stone Lance cast]

Sharp stones pierced the torsos of the elves who couldn’t cope with Bind. Five who were slow to react collapsed to the ground.

“Damn it! Attack!”

Ten archers waiting in the rear began firing simultaneously.

I hoped the arrows would miss in the dark night, but the elven race were naturally marksmen, so I chose defense over evasion.

[Stone Shield created]

Clang! Clang! Clang!

The arrows rained down and struck the broad stone that pierced the ground and rose to cover Merlin and Mother.

The elven Elder, watching Merlin fight unexpectedly well, became annoyed and issued instructions in a high-pitched voice.

“His physical abilities themselves are nothing! Get close and finish him!”

The Elder’s analysis was accurate.

Long-range combat was manageable, but within the range of melee weapons, I was overwhelmingly disadvantaged.

To avoid close combat, I used my strongest combat skill.

[Wood Control activated]

[Wood Golem Summon]

Thump, thump, thump!

The elves’ eyes widened at the sight of the 3m golem rising from the ground.

Whether it was an unexpected counterattack or not, the vanguard who charged first wavered, and I didn’t miss the gap.

“Attack!”

The golem swung one arm wide horizontally, and two elves who were hit directly were knocked unconscious beyond the bushes.

-Uwooooah!!!

The golem intimidated the elves by pounding its chest like a gorilla.

It was a pretty good fear effect against the many.

In the meantime, I continued to attempt Bind and Stone Lance combo attacks, using the Stone Shield as cover.

Thwack! Thwack! Thwack!

The elves hit by the druid skills began to fall one by one.

The elves, who were initially thirty, were now about half, and fear began to settle in the eyes of the remaining warriors.

‘Good. Let’s keep this momentum going.’

Just as I was about to exert more power,

Thud.

A torch hit the Wood Golem’s body, and the wooden golem instantly caught fire. The burning flames devoured the golem made of dry firewood like a demon.

“That’s it! Since it’s wood anyway, it has no choice but to burn. Everyone, throw the torches you’re holding at that monster!”

The elven warriors threw the torches they had. The archers made fire arrows and drew their bows. They didn’t even care if the forest burned.

In any case, it was a red light for Merlin. The Wood Golem, thrashing in the fire, eventually knelt and ceased functioning.

[The golem has been destroyed.]

We were back to square one.

The enraged warriors drew their swords and prepared to rush at Mother and Merlin.

At this rate, we were bound to lose.

I had to somehow reverse the situation.

How could a druid weak in close combat overcome this situation?

The answer was surprisingly simple.

“Create a golem that doesn’t burn.”

Wood burns.

But stone withstands fire.

I didn’t know difficult academic theories like the Five Elements Theory, but it was a natural principle I had learned naturally while living.

I had to make a Stone Golem.

Like sculpting a statue with clay and plasticine.

Using sharp, thin Stone Lances as limbs and broad Stone Shields to form the head and torso.

Even in the urgent situation, I created it step by step.

I would never have been able to do it if I hadn’t recognized that this was a test within the World Tree.

Exerting superhuman concentration, I finally completed it.

[Stone Golem is summoned.]

Honestly, it was a less complete and smaller golem than the Wood Golem.

However, its solidity and agility were incomparable to the existing golem.

“What the hell is that!?”

Thump! Thump! Thump!

The Stone Golem rushed menacingly towards the horrified elven warriors, echoing the sound of the earth.

The hard stone fist fell vertically.

The elven warrior, crushed by the direct hit, departed the world with a brief scream.

“Monster, it’s a monster…”

Moreover, the Stone Golem was impervious to fire arrows or fire swords. It rampaged through the formation like a wolf among a flock of sheep.

Ten minutes passed since then.

Time flew quickly.

“Stone Golem Summon Release.”

I sent back the golem that had worked hard.

Zero elven warriors were standing.

Young Merlin, or rather, I who was possessing him, had knocked them all down.

The only enemy standing on the ground now was the elven Elder.

[Congratulations!!]

[Mission Clear!]

A message appeared that I had succeeded in the mission.

The reward window popped up below, but I decided to check it later as the situation was urgent.

Because the elven Elder still remained.

But why did I complete the mission even though the Elder remained?

“Not bad for a mongrel. I underestimated you too much.”

“I’ll kill you too.”

I didn’t say these words.

The moment I completed the mission, I automatically came out of Merlin’s body.

From now on, I watched Merlin, Mother, and the elven Elder from a step away, as if watching a movie.

“Heh heh heh, did you think you were anything special just because you gained some mysterious abilities?”

A sword was drawn from the elven Elder’s staff. The dazzling aura brightly illuminated the surroundings. Surprisingly, the Elder was a Sword Master!

“I’ll show you what happens to that paltry rock you’re so proud of.”

Slash!

The Wood Golem was cut in two with a single blow.

Following that, the Stone Lance, Stone Shield, and even Bind were all neutralized.

The elven Elder grabbed Merlin’s mother by the neck and lifted her up.

She coughed and struggled in the air, and Merlin rushed at the Elder, begging him to let go of his mother, but it was no use.

“The child’s fault must be borne by the mother. Farewell, then.”

The sword was embedded in Mother’s body.

This scene was replayed slowly, probably because this moment felt particularly slow in Merlin’s memory.

Thus, the vitality disappeared from Merlin’s mother’s eyes, and Merlin’s consciousness also faded as he was struck in the back of the neck.

Before his vision darkened, Merlin’s last memory was the Elder’s cold, expressionless face, from which not a drop of blood would come even if stabbed.

“Even a peaceful death is a luxury for you. I’ll throw you among the filthy humans. Suffer there for the rest of your life.”

Merlin’s memory playback ended.

Letters appeared in the darkness.

[Second Trial – Druid’s Memory II has been cleared.]

[Acquire the Golden Branch.]

[Promotion Complete!]

[You have been promoted to Intermediate Druid.]

It was much more difficult than the first test.

There were also many clearance conditions.

Does the test become more difficult as you add the Golden Branch?

I put the question aside.

It was also a test that yielded many gains as the difficulty was high.

[You have acquired a new skill.]

[Existing skills are enhanced according to promotion.]

[Reorganize the skill list.]

——————–

[Awaken the element ‘Life’.]

[Awakened element list]

1. Wood

2. Stone

3. Wind

4. Life

5. ???

——————–

——————–

1. Wood Control

-Bind (★★)

-Wood Golem (★★)

2. Stone Control

-Stone Lance (★★)

-Stone Shield (★★)

-Stone Golem (★)

3. Wind Control

-Instant Step (★)

-Haste (★)

4. Life Control

– Vision Sharing (★)

——————–

Skills have been upgraded quite a bit.

First of all, Bind is still 2 stars, but Wood Golem has evolved from 1 star to 2 stars.

I’m looking forward to how strong the 2-star Wood Golem has become.

The stone skills have also changed a lot.

Stone Lance and Shield have each become 2 stars, and a new skill, Stone Shield, which I awakened when overcoming the ordeal, has been added.

The power of the Stone Golem was definitely felt when fighting the elven warriors, so it seemed that it would be useful in the future.

The Haste skill, which helped a lot during the escape test, has also been added to the skill window.

In particular, this skill is the first buff-type skill among the many skills I have.

If I cast Haste on my teammates Sion and Campbell right now, I expect a significant increase in combat power.

Finally, a new element, Life, has been added.

It is a cheat-level skill for obtaining information by possessing a living being and stealing their vision.

I think this skill will be used frequently in various ways in the future.

[End the ordeal.]

Whoosh!!

The golden light that had been hovering in the air throughout the test swirled fantastically and permeated my heart as the end signal appeared.

I felt the golden branch being absorbed into my body, which was floating in the air in a lotus position.

The moment the second golden branch became entirely mine, I finished floating and landed on the ground.

When I opened my eyes, I could see a subtle natural energy flowing in the air as an elegant thread that I couldn’t see before.

Is the world that druids see a little different from ordinary people?

“Amazing. I’ve lived quite a long time, but it was one of the most amazing scenes I’ve ever seen.”

It was Tom who watched the whole process from the side. He said he was proud to give me the druid branch. Every precious thing has an owner worthy of it.

“Thank you. Thanks to Tom, I was able to leap one step further.”

“I had a valuable experience. Your energy seems to have become stronger.”

As soon as Tom finished speaking, Sion and Campbell, who had finished cleaning up, opened the door and came in.

“Young Master, the cleanup is complete. Please decide how to move now.”

The timing is good.

I was promoted to Intermediate Druid, and a day had passed quickly while taking the test, so the full moon was already peeking out.

According to Guild Master Haman, the tide was receding in the southern sea, revealing the underwater cave.

Originally, I wanted to forcefully invade the underwater cave, destroy the black market with force, and make it impossible to recover.

However, after searching Guild Master Haman’s office, I found that there were more vested interests involved in the black market than I thought, and the system was systematic.

More than anything, I wouldn’t care if they only dealt with slaves, but slaves were just a part of the merchandise.

Rather, it was a market where various rare and rare items were the main focus, so completely abolishing the black market would be a major blow to Liang.

“Liang’s black market has been operating for over a hundred years. It has quite a history. It has only recently deteriorated by dealing with slaves, and among those who visit this place, there are many consumers who purely want to buy rare items.”

It was the kidnapped Mayor Yuron who said that.

He wanted the black market to continue to exist.

If slaves were abolished from the merchandise, it would return to the old market, and consumers who came to buy slaves would be filtered out on their own.

Yuron’s words made sense, so I decided to proceed in the direction of maintaining the black market.

“I understand. Let’s do that. Instead, I will have the list of the distribution of slaves who were dealt with in the black market and those who purchased them.”

Guild Master Haman was a competent worker.

He had written down in detail who supplied the slaves, when, where, and how many, and similarly, who bought the supplied slaves, when, and how many.

It was no exaggeration to say that if I made public the ledger obtained from his office, nearly 30% of the Elden Kingdom nobles who prohibited slavery would be blown away.

On the other hand, it was amazing that so many nobles were involved in slavery.

Rosalyn’s name was also on the list, and it was written that she had purchased a young male slave for entertainment purposes several years ago.

A married woman’s bizarre behavior. She was already dead, but I had even less to say.

Anyway, I decided to use the slave ledger later, and it was important to operate the black market as usual now.

That way, I could first sell the slaves and then take the remaining slaves to the city hall and meet Greed.

If something happened to the black market and the quick-witted Greed stopped acting as the mayor and fled, Tom and I would be in trouble.

“I’ll disguise myself as a buyer and go to the market. There are also merchants planted by Twilight inside the black market, and although the possibility is slim, Greed may visit.”

I also decided to collect any good items I saw in the black market.

Tom answered my words.

“I understand. I’ll pretend to be Haman here and deal with any possible emergencies, so go and come back safely.”

“I’ll leave Campbell to protect Mayor Yuron and Tom.”

“As you wish.”

Just in case, I leave Campbell in the guild building. Campbell, left behind, crosses his arms and grumbles.

“I want to see too?”

“There’s nothing to eat there.”

“Then I’ll stay here.”

Persuading Campbell is still simple.

So I headed to the black market with only Sion.

The full moon was already shining brightly in the sky.