The Regressed Mercenary’s Machinations Chapter 669

Episode 669: Is there a black magician? (1)

Jiselle was the first to send a letter to Rio, telling him to buy as many magic books as he could and send them to her.

I could only obtain the circle magic, but it wouldn’t hurt to learn the magic that Astion didn’t know.

‘I can just absorb it all.’

Jiselle used the money in her hand to collect many requests from the surrounding territories. She also asked if there were any magicians who had committed crimes and were on the run.

While gathering information using the Information Guild, Jisel pestered Astion to learn every single magic he knew.

Paaaaak!

Chunks of ice were flying in the air.

“Wow, this is really good. I can go back and live comfortably.”

Jiselle was very satisfied with being able to use magic in her daily life rather than in battle. She especially enjoyed freezing water to drink.

There were more than a few inconveniences while living as a mercenary. In particular, it was a problem when I had to purify water, protect myself from the cold or heat, and keep food fresh.

After reaching a certain level, it was bearable, but it was literally bearable, not comfortable.

But look now. The problems that were inconvenient in our daily lives were being quickly resolved.

“I feel like I’ve wasted my life. I should have been a magician from the beginning.”

If that were true, I wouldn’t have grown as much as I have now. It would have been impossible for Jiselle’s personality to consistently study that much.

It’s fun to eat it raw like this. In just a few days, Astion has learned all the magic he knows.

“Hey, you really don’t know anything else?”

― No… … . This is so unfair… … .

Astion was a sensitive person who could accept the spirits.

Thanks to that constitution, he quickly became aware of the existence of mana and learned magic more easily than anyone else.

But magic was such a difficult subject that even he had to study it for years, causing him a headache.

‘Maybe I’m a genius? I’m afraid of my own talent… … .’

It would be a lie to say that he had never thought about it. Astion had pride in his innate talent and the effort he had put in.

I was always grateful for the good fortune of accepting the people I met.

But when I saw Jiselle, who could use several spells a day, and who didn’t even know the spells, but only learned how to use magical power, I felt a sense of inferiority.

― I might be… … trash… … . Magic is done with the body, not the head… … .

Astion, whose standards for comparison were too high because of Giselle, became ignorant of the world’s average and fell into misery on his own.

Jiselle smiled as she sensed Astion was gloomy.

‘Hey, don’t be scared. I’ll raise you up in no time.’

It’s his body now, but it’s a body that he’ll return to Astion someday. He also planned to increase its magical power a lot.

As Jiselle learned magic, the three people’s training methods also changed slightly.

Whoosh! Whoosh!

Dozens of fireballs were created in the air.

“From today, I will also train to fight against wizards.”

Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!

Fireballs flew mercilessly at the three people.

The three people couldn’t come to their senses due to the suddenly increased difficulty of the training.

“What, what is this!”

The magic came in like a knight’s sword, targeting only the vital points. Dozens at a time.

Jiselle also had a lot of experience fighting magicians. Even the high priests of the Salvation Church fought in a way that was closer to magicians.

Using that experience, Giselle demonstrated superhuman-level attack techniques that ordinary wizards could not display.

Thud! Thud! Thud!

“Eww!”

The three of them couldn’t even manage to shoot a few fireballs because the ground was shaking so much that they couldn’t even get their stance right.

Due to the structure of the human body, there are limits to the attack methods that can be used with the body. However, once magic is used, an endless number of attack methods emerge.

The three were hit by a barrage of fire and ice chunks.

That wasn’t all. Jiselle’s application skills were so good that she tormented the three with outrageous attacks.

“Wow, magic is so convenient and nice.”

Jiselle smiled brightly and fired her magic. Learning new skills was always fun.

On the other hand, the three people who were being bullied simply thought that the bullying had escalated.

Eventually, the impatient Kyle was the first to explode.

“Don’t do it! How can I stop this!”

He immediately turned around and ran away. Then, Yulien and Deneb, who had been watching, followed right behind.

“Huh? Run away? This is all for the deep purpose of saving you!”

“Save me! I’m going to die like this!”

“Don’t kill me!”

Jiselle chased the three of them around, twirling her staff wildly. The three of them gritted their teeth at the sight of him looking so excited.

In addition to training the three, Giselle began to use her magic to gradually stabilize her body.

It wasn’t a task that could be accomplished in one go. That’s why Giselle focused on maintaining the balance.

Astion could only watch, worried.

* * *

Even while learning magic, Giselle did not neglect to increase her magical power.

I gathered magical power using the wizard’s meditation I learned from Astion.

“It’s a shame we can’t make a core.”

If you create a core in Astion’s body now, it will clash with the magic power of his heart and put him in a dangerous situation.

He can control and handle both the core and the magic power at the same time, but Astion cannot do that yet. That is why he deliberately did not create a core.

Instead, he gathered magical power by applying the flow of the Mana training method and even using the power of his will little by little.

It wasn’t as fast as Jiselle’s mana gathering method, but it was much faster than Astion gathering magic power on his own.

“Hmm, I should also find a way to gather magic power faster.”

However, Jiselle was not satisfied. Even if she could gather it faster than the existing method, it would inevitably be inferior to her own completed mana cultivation method.

So while I was looking for the magic book, I was also planning to look for a way to quickly refill my magic power.

“The faster my body gets stronger, the more helpful it will be to Astion.”

Now, Jiselle can use the Circle’s magic and the Core’s mana without distinction. The only difference is in efficiency.

Even when returning to reality, you can use magic as the core of the mana cultivation method. On the other hand, here, you use magic power like mana cultivation, so the more the better.

In this way, the Yulien mercenary group devoted themselves to training with the generous money they received from Rio. In the meantime, various requests and information were constantly passed on to Jisel.

“Oh, this is not good.”

“There’s no wizard involved?”

“It’s harder to find a good job than I thought.”

Jiselle refused all the requests that came in. She’s been having a lot of fun learning magic lately. She wants to work and learn magic at the same time.

He was a man who pursued efficiency.

“I guess I should go to another area… … .”

If you wander around, you will be able to find a magic tower or a wizard to catch and move. That way, you can slowly train and move.

“Oh? There’s a warlock?”

Information has been received that a black magician is being established in a nearby territory called Nodehill.

It is said that the lord attempted to subdue them twice, but failed and even died.

There was news that the successor to the territory was furious and preparing to launch another expedition.

In particular, there was also content that said that even if a magician dies, he will treat the magician well.

“This is okay.”

Warlocks were extremely rare creatures, and their knowledge was passed down more secretly than any other magic.

Some magic towers and kingdoms capture black magicians to study, but most of those captured are low-circle magicians, so not much progress has been made.

Jiselle also became curious about black magic. She thought that she should catch this guy sometime.

Moreover, since it was about catching bad guys, it fit the good purpose of the Yulien Mercenary Corps and was also good for training.

“Let’s go! Let’s catch the evil warlock!”

Jiselle immediately packed her bags and moved.

The Warlock is also a wizard, so he might have other magic books or magical items. I was thinking of taking whatever I could.

So the party rode horses and moved quickly until they arrived at the Baronial Estate of Nordhill.

The Barondom of Nordhill was in quite a turmoil. The attempt to subdue the warlock had failed and even the lord had died.

Andrew, the son of the former lord who became the new lord, called up many mercenaries. However, the mercenaries did not gather as quickly as expected.

“You failed to subdue it twice. It must be incredibly powerful.”

“There’s a rumor that he’s a 5th Circle Master. If he’s that good, he’ll be hard to catch.”

“He’s a guy with good skills, but he fights secretly while hiding. He’s not someone you can catch in a small baronial territory like this.”

Most mercenaries refused the request because they felt uncomfortable, so only a few gathered.

Meanwhile, the Yulian mercenary group including a wizard and a priest came, so Andrew took off his shoes and went out to greet them first.

“Come! If you can catch the warlock, I will pay you with all my might!”

The young lord Andrew had no intention of giving up his revenge. The territory was already in turmoil due to the warlock’s experiments, so he had to punish him.

However, it was difficult to ask for help from other territories. If another army came here, it was obvious that they would make up some excuse and take over the territory. That was the era.

Andrew would die if he failed to subdue them, and he would die if he asked for help from other territories. There was no other choice.

At the lord’s hospitality, Julian raised his head and spoke with an arrogant expression.

“Uh, this is the Yulien Mercenary Corps. Uh, we’ll just catch the warlocks and fold them in the opposite direction, uh, fold them.”

His expression was arrogant, his face was bright red, and his speech was a little stammered. It was because Giselle forced him to do it.

“Just hearing you say that makes me feel reassured.”

However, the lord did not feel awkward. This was because he had already heard the news that Yulien had killed the best knight in the Barondom of Magrel and that Giselle was a 5th circle magician.

It is said that there are even priests who are the antagonists of the black magician. It was a really small but powerful mercenary group.

Giselle said, clinging to Julianne with a Claude-like expression.

“I will accept the compensation as announced. I will separately organize and inform you of any additional matters required to carry out the request.”

“Please do so. We will give you everything we can give you.”

Jiselle and her party were treated with the utmost hospitality. After they arrived, Andrew emptied the estate’s treasury and recruited mercenaries.

Even as he prepared for the expedition, Andrew could not hide his uneasy feelings.

“Haa… … If I fail this time too, this territory is finished… … What should I do about this?”

The worries were not small. The power of the warlock was a problem, but there was an even bigger problem.

During the last expedition, several soldiers suddenly turned and attacked our troops. Although it was only for a short time, it had fatal consequences because we were in the middle of a battle.

Eventually, the entire army fell into chaos and was defeated by the warlock.

Andrew paced the room, muttering.

“A few soldiers have been affected by mind control magic. That means someone who cast the spell is definitely in this territory. And very close by.”

It means that someone who is in league with the black magician is hiding his identity and infiltrating. If we don’t catch him, we can’t go on an expedition.

In the end, we had no choice but to postpone the subjugation period and find the culprit with the wizards and priests who came this time.

The rumor reached the ears of Jiselle and her party, who were receiving the utmost hospitality.

Jiselle, who was eating the fruit, snickered.

“It looks like someone on the same side as the Warlock is hiding here. It’s impossible to start a subjugation right away to find him. When will it take you to investigate all the troops and employees?”

If there are truly mind-controlled people, we should investigate each and every one of them with magic and divine powers.

Deneb asked curiously.

“If the deceased were also affected, wouldn’t it be really dangerous?”

“It’ll be okay since the high-ranking officials are guarded by knights. Outsiders can’t approach them easily. And mind control magic isn’t easy.”

“It’s not easy?”

“It’s true. It doesn’t really work. Even if it does, it’s only for a short time. If it were easy to control someone’s mind, I would have destroyed this small territory by myself a long time ago. That’s what it means to be a high-circle wizard.”

Kyle nodded in agreement.

“It looks like they only disturbed a few soldiers for a moment, so it looks like they only bothered a few easy targets.”

“Yes, I must have cast a short-term conditional spell on a few people. That alone would have been fatal for such a weak territory army.”

In estates with regular wizards, this rarely happens, as they regularly hunt down spies and conduct magic checks.

In the first place, it wouldn’t be a big deal if a few soldiers did something else.

That’s why the enemy doesn’t make such useless attempts.

But things were a little different for this small estate.

“You said that the only wizard in this territory died during the first expedition, right? Then it’ll be harder to find him. The one hiding will be careful, too. I think he’s around 4th Circle.”

At that level, you can control soldiers who are a little lacking. If you put in the time and effort, that is.

The person in hiding will still be observing the situation and working.

Deneb asked again at Giselle’s words.

“Then what should I do?”

The three looked at Giselle with sparkling eyes. Giselle could solve anything.

Jiselle picked up another piece of fruit and ate it, lost in thought.

“Well… … In a situation like this, I think we have to investigate each and every one of them… … .”

It would take a long time, but there wasn’t much we could do about it right now.

In the end, there was no choice but to postpone the suppression and conduct an intensive investigation of all personnel.

Because we must find not only the person under mind control, but also the culprit.

Deneb muttered with a regretful expression.

“Isn’t there a quick and easy way?”

Suddenly, Giselle remembered what Maurice had always said to her before.

– This duckling! We need to weigh this thing on the scale to see if it weighs the same as the duck!

“Are there any superstitions like that in this day and age? They say that warlocks and witches weigh the same as ducks.”

“Is there such a superstition? This is the first time I’ve heard of it.”

“Oh, I guess there wasn’t such a superstition in the past. It’s just a superstition that suddenly came to mind, so don’t take it too seriously. I’ll meet with the lord and discuss a method.”

Jiselle felt that she had no choice but to step forward and solve the problem, since she was the only one in this territory who could use magic.

The timing of the subjugation had to be delayed a little, but it was unavoidable to reduce the damage.

But something happened that Jiselle had not expected. A servant who had been listening to the conversation while serving the group reported the contents to his superior.

The report went up again, up again, until it reached the lord. This was because that was the method the wizard had hinted at.

And soon a new order came down.

– All troops and employees, gather at the training ground! I will check if the duck and the weight are the same!

Jiselle looked dumbfounded when she heard the news.

The lord is decisive and cheerful… … but even if he were uncivilized, he could not be this uncivilized.