16 – Recipe(6)

The situation was quickly sorted out. Reinforcements were no longer necessary, but additional alchemists were needed to investigate the case.

Popper pushed through the front door of the mansion with his hands behind his back. Inside, knights were carrying lumber. The soil of the ghouls’ burrows was unstable, and the installation of supports to prevent collapse was in full swing.

Only his lieutenant Berel, who was waiting at the door, saluted and followed him.

“I sought advice from Silverin.”

“Let me tell you.”

“The giant magic circle on the ceiling of the underground laboratory is a type of barrier designed with high-level magic. It was preventing the ghouls from escaping to the outside, but it seems to have lost its effectiveness as a part of it has been lost recently.”

“It’s high-level magic… .”

Popper’s eyes deepened.

Alchemists who have mastered high-level magic were not very common.

I couldn’t even figure out what the alchemist was trying to do, and even talking about high-ranking magic was a headache.

“The magic circle wasn’t designed to keep you from getting out of the basement, it was made so that you couldn’t get out of the horizontal line where it was drawn. That’s why I dug the hole diligently only to the side.”

“I guess you didn’t expect the ghoul to break down the wall. Have you checked how far the oysters go?”

“A report came in a while ago. It is said to have led to the cemetery. They devour corpses buried in the ground, and some appear to have become ghouls and subordinate to the herd.”

There is a plausible explanation for how the laboratory ghouls, who had to starve to death, came to form such a large group.

Popper nodded as if he finally understood.

“I hadn’t even thought of the cemetery.”

If they searched the cemetery intensively, they could have found traces of ghouls.

Berelman, however, was fortunate that he had accidentally missed the cemetery and had been engaged in a crypt.

The cemetery is the same place as a ghoul’s party hall. It was an open field with no fences on all sides and tunnels stretched like spider webs, making it an ideal place for ghouls.

“If the fight had taken place in the cemetery, it would have been a one-sided battle, like the ghoul dragging the knight into the tunnel, and it would have turned into a catastrophe.”

“I guess… . I owe a lot to that young friend for this.”

During the conversation, the front door of the mansion burst open and a wounded knight was dragged outside.

The injured knight was isolated outside the gate with his lower body drenched in blood.

Berelman added to Popper who was watching this carefully.

“It’s the work of the ghouls that still remain.”

“Huh… .”

This was the third injury.

Not all the ghouls were organized. Even now, the knights were struggling to subdue the remaining ghouls.

The subjugation could be completed only when the remaining one was thoroughly cleaned up.

The rest of the ghouls were all invaded by the knights, but they hid in the depths and did not try to come out.

It was a habit that came out when terrified.

All that remained was a phenomenon that appeared because they were all ‘run away’ ghouls. Frightened, they ran out of the mansion alone and attacked Joyce, hiding in their burrows and fiercely resisting.

And the fearful existence that frightened those ghouls… .

Popper turned his attention to a boy sitting in a corner of the garden.

The boy was wiping away the blood with a carefree face as he poured the bucket of water the villagers had brought over his head.

“I’m getting more and more curious about that friend’s identity.”

“So do i.”

“Joyce is also an unapologetic writer. After a few years, you’ll be able to fully express your sword skills, but it seems like you’re not quite up to that friend’s level.”

Reaching the stage of expressing faint sword skills at the age of 20 was indeed a great talent.

“… .”

Berelman felt ashamed of himself for sympathizing with the words and actions of his colleagues who looked down on Damian.

“Bring him some clothes.”

“I have ordered it beforehand.”

“How about providing the uniforms for our knights?”

“… That is a matter that requires the consent of Lord Silverin. In a situation where Eternia has already been confirmed… .”

It could be a problem to attach the seal of the Knights Templar to someone who was under Silverin’s school.

Popper cut off Berelman’s words and laughed.

“Heh heh heh, that’s right. I just said it.”

To Berelman, it wasn’t just something thrown out. Popper’s eyes were looking at the boy, shining like a miner who had found a vein of gold.

The knights had laughed at him just a few hours ago. And now I glance with awe-tinged eyes. The boy doesn’t care at all whether he does or not.

Popper looked at Damian for a while, as if he were treating a magical creature, then spat.

“Hmm… .”

Soon, Popper slowly approached Damian, as if he had something to say.

***

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Joyce remained in the underground lab, investigating the battle scene.

The question still lingered in his mind.

walls and floors. And the traces of the sword were engraved on the floor.

At least, there was no magic involved in the process of sweeping away the ghouls.

‘How the hell… .’

The solid stone walls and iron bars are cut into the walls as if they were cut out of a cake. It was so deep that my wrist could fit into it.

It is an impossible state with brute force alone.

Is it possible to do something like this with that ordinary-looking sword?

Volk and Felix, Joyce’s classmate, were also examining the battle scene by his side.

Felix was helping them from the rear because of his lack of experience and skills.

Felix asked Volk.

“What do you think, senior?”

“If you look at the trajectory of the sword swing, it is very rough. Strictly speaking, it is not a skill that has been learned for a long time.”

Volk was not belittling or underestimating Damian’s skills.

A lot of information was recorded at the battle site. For those who could read what the records meant, attempting to underestimate Damian’s talent was practically foolish.

Felix accepted the information that Volk had derived, excluding his emotions simply for on-site verification, as a means of demeaning.

In this situation, Felix was the only one who envied and looked down on Damian.

He was inexperienced, belonged to the Knights Templar like an adolescent boy, and had an overblown ego. Moreover, he was still swept away by the atmosphere in which some of his senior knights, including Volk, looked down on him.

“You’ve been very lucky.”

Volk ignored Felix’s words and thought for a while before speaking.

“It must be a sword engraved with sword skills or high-ranking magic.”

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Joyce pondered.

“It’s an enchanted sword… .”

Felix added a word.

“Then the power of the sword is not your own skill. It’s thanks to the good back.”

To wield this much power, you must be able to wield sword skills skillfully. If you are 16 years old and have not properly learned swordsmanship, swordsmanship is completely out of the realm of talent and makes no sense.

Since he had an archmage like Silverin as his teacher, the hypothesis that it was an enchantment sword was quite convincing.

But Joyce had a hard time agreeing. I had never seen him draw his sword, but there was a high probability that the sword he had was not an enchantment sword.

Enchantment swords had a short lifespan and had to be stored in a special enchanted sheath even in peacetime to prevent magic from leaking. Damian was wearing a normal scabbard.

Furthermore, there was no way that Silverin would write a letter of recommendation to Eternia just because she had an enchantment sword that could be obtained by pouring money into it.

There must be something more than that.

Volk added a word.

“If it’s not that, it’s a demonic sword… .”

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Joyce listened to him and nodded calmly.

The word demonic sword itself was unrealistic, but considering all the circumstances, it was the most convincing hypothesis.

“Aren’t they both the same? Well, you’re pretty sure it’s not your own power either way.”

Felix thought that the magic sword and enchantment sword were the same thing.

Volk denied Felix’s words.

“No at all. Quite the contrary.”

“Yes?”

Volk did not hesitate to explain Felix’s reaction.

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Joyce swallowed.

‘It could really be a magic sword.’

If it’s a demonic sword, it’s a completely different level of ability and talent.

The representative difference between the magic sword and the enchantment sword was the presence or absence of an ego.

Although that ego does not have complex thoughts like humans, each demonic sword has its own ‘will’.

That’s why there were conditions for handling the magic sword.

The first is to be chosen by the magic sword.

However, the ‘choice of the magic sword’ was not an absolute condition. Some sword masters completely ignored the choice and will of the demonic sword, but there were also those who handled it perfectly. However, I had to endure huge side effects.

The second most important condition. That was to withstand the magic pressure.

Due to the high density of mana condensed in a transcendental amount in the magic sword, magic pressure was generated around it when the power was expressed. Because of this, untrained people could pass out if they were around.

Furthermore, the person who wielded the magic sword had to endure magic pressure of a different level from that nearby.

Ignoring this and recklessly holding the demonic sword, I could faint and lose consciousness for several months or become an idiot.

Resistance to magic pressure did not increase like a rubber band through training. To be able to wield a demonic sword, you had to have a natural tolerance.

It is a state where the class feels higher than using sword skills.

Volk also seemed to guess that Damian was the owner of the demonic sword.

If rumors about the magic sword spread, Damian’s safety could be threatened. Of course, as long as Sylverin was by her side, she wouldn’t be hurt, but it could have been annoying in many ways.

Felix muttered to himself as if it was nothing.

“Isn’t there anything so great about it? If I had a magic sword, I would be a ghoul, go to an academy, and just… .”

Volk also warned Felix, probably thinking the same thing as Joyce.

“Felix, you haven’t heard anything. Be sure to keep quiet about the demonic sword.”

“Yes? Ah yes!… Aww!”

As Felix answered, he stepped on the ghoul’s flesh and collapsed. Because of its large size, it made a loud noise.

“Ah, why haven’t you cleaned up the flesh yet?”

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Joyce looked down at Felix and shook her head.

It was clear that Felix would not know even after experiencing this firsthand.

Do you know what it means to stand unscathed in this place where flesh, blood, thorns, and bones were crammed with nowhere to step?

What will those who hold the magic sword do? If I fell like this, the ghoul would tear my limbs off in less than a second.

Felix also treated Joyce as a group no matter what he did because he was preparing to enter the academy.

Strictly speaking, Felix hadn’t even begun to enter the academy. He came here as an apprentice engineer thanks to the huge amount of donations.

It was clear that sooner or later he would run to his father and whine to buy an enchantment sword.

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Joyce sighed deeply.

***

Popper walked over to Damian with his hands behind his back. His broad chest and toned muscles made him look much younger than his age.

Damian sat calmly and waited for Popper to reveal his business.

This was Damian’s first time facing Popper alone like this, without Sylveryn accompanying him.

The knights who guarded the mansion also had a mountain of questions they wanted to ask Damian, but they all focused their attention on the expectation that Popper would answer those questions.

Popper, who had been watching Damian calmly, finally opened his mouth.

“Can you show me your sword?”