Embracing Magic - E.M Chapter 170 (Part 1)

Larry and Bianca tilted their heads as they watched the group disappear into the distance. They couldn’t understand why the Marquis of Richmond was heading east instead of west.

“Brother, where are they going?”

“Yeah, why isn’t the Marquis of Richmond returning to his own territory?”

Larry and Bianca didn’t know the details. They hadn’t been near where the important conversations had taken place.

“We couldn’t capture the Marquis of Rotten.”

“Ah! Right, the Marquis of Rotten wasn’t there.”

“Did that guy tell his subordinates to attack and then run away by himself?”

“Maybe.”

Rodin gave a vague answer and left it at that.

To explain properly, he would have had to talk about the pendant containing the legacy of the Kingdom of Bolas. The story would be too long.

—

After finishing their meal, the party resumed their journey. As usual, their pace was slow and deliberate.

Night fell. After midnight, when everyone was fast asleep, Rodin sat alone in front of the campfire.

“Hmm.”

He watched the crackling flames, lost in thought.

Through the territory war, he had come to realize how deeply humans could sink into wickedness.

To the Marquis of Rotten, soldiers were nothing more than tools. No, perhaps they were just numbers to him.

“You seem deep in thought, milord.”

“Mm? My head’s a mess.”

“In my opinion, you’ve done all you could for the Marquis of Richmond. You don’t need to concern yourself any further.”

Rodin didn’t deny Jena’s words.

Just as she said, he had done enough. The rest was up to the Marquis of Richmond.

“Yeah. I’ve done all I could. I feel like I’ve paid off most of that debt in my heart too.”

“When you say ‘debt in your heart,’ are you referring to the volcano?”

“Yeah. If it weren’t for me, the Richmond territory wouldn’t have ended up like that.”

Rodin bore some responsibility for the volcanic eruption. That was also the reason he had made the decision to return to the Marquisate of Richmond all the way from the distant Hedens region for the territory war.

“Even without you, the volcano would have erupted eventually.”

“Yeah, true. It would’ve erupted, but it’s also undeniable that a volcano that would’ve erupted years later blew up early because of me.”

“In resolving the curse, milord already rendered great service to the Richmond territory. If not for you, thousands—maybe tens of thousands—more would have died.”

“I know. That’s why I didn’t follow the Marquis of Richmond. I thought I’d done enough.”

Rodin hadn’t returned for the sake of the Marquis of Richmond. He had come back for the people living in the territory.

In resolving the curse, he had saved those people.

If it weren’t for him, the Marquis of Richmond would have continued distributing potions, thinking the curse was poison. That alone likely saved thousands of lives.

“But is there a reason you must go to the Kingdom of Luvain?”

“That bastard Rotten—he rubs me the wrong way. Everything about him is off.”

“That I can understand.”

Jena had been planning to stop Rodin if he was acting out of guilt. But hearing that it was simply because Rotten irritated him, she didn’t try to stop him.

To her way of thinking, doing as one pleased was a privilege of the strong.

“During your time, did dark mages ever cause trouble?”

“There was no real difference between the trouble caused by dark mages and that of white mages.”

“True. It’s not magic’s fault. As always, it’s the humans who abuse it that are the problem.”

Rodin wanted to kill that bastard, the Marquis of Rotten, who was abusing dark magic. Still, he believed the right of first claim belonged to the Marquis of Richmond.

Rodin himself hadn’t suffered any direct harm. At most, it was just that a territory war had been waged, causing him to travel from afar.

But the Marquis of Richmond had suffered massive losses. Many people in his territory had died from the curse, and knights had died in the recent war.

“It’s late. You should get some rest.”

“Yeah, I shoul—wait. People are approaching.”

At the mention of an approach, Karis—who had been on watch—rushed over. Jena also instantly prepared for battle.

“Milord.”

“That way, right? Don’t attack just yet—we don’t know if they’re enemies.”

“I’ll go check. Milord.”

Jena vanished in the direction Rodin pointed.

For matters like this, Jena—who was more flexible—was better suited than Karis, who had a strong tendency to strike to kill.

A short while later, Jena returned with a group of people. Rodin recognized some of the faces.

“Milord.”

“Good work.”

“Hm. How strange.”

The oldest man among the group who had arrived with Jena stared intently at Rodin. Then, after glancing over Karis and Jena, he looked back at Rodin.

“Do you have business with me?”

“I’ve heard the stories. That there’s an archmage in the mercenary world with a Platinum Badge. That must be you, right?”

“That’s correct.”

The ones who had arrived with Jena were Hurst and his party—Platinum Badge mercenaries.

They had been left at the main base of the Richmond Marquisate but seemed to have recovered somewhat.

“Why the hell are those people following you?”

“Is your name Hurst?”

“That’s right. I’m Platinum Badge mercenary Hurst.”

Hurst still wasn’t fully recovered. Bandages were wrapped around his abdomen, and his face was pale from blood loss.

He had suffered a full-penetration wound to the abdomen from Karis. The injury was far too severe to be healed with a single spell and one potion.

“You need to learn some manners first. The moment you saw me, you should’ve started with a ‘thank you.’ If it weren’t for me, you would’ve died on the spot.”

“What?”

“The one who cast healing magic on you—was me. The one who used a potion on you—also me.”

“Th… that was…”

Hurst was at a loss for words. He had heard about it on the way but had forgotten.

“Ah, forget it. I don’t want to hear a thank-you from someone like you. Leave.”

“Sor… damn it.”

Hurst had barely said things like “sorry” or “thank you” in his life. The last time he had was before he became a master—over twenty years ago.

The words wouldn’t come out. Saying sorry made his mouth feel glued shut. Saying thank you felt too awkward—it was just impossible.

“Milord, he’s an ill-mannered man. Shall we just drive him away?”

“Milord, just give the order. I’ll make sure not even a corpse remains.”

Karis and Jena escalated the tension further.

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