Embracing Magic - E.M Chapter 170 (Part 2)

In response, those who had come with Hurst began to draw their weapons one by one.

The situation was on a knife’s edge—just a step away from erupting into battle.

Rodin clicked his tongue indifferently.

“Tsk tsk, just leave him be. He’s not related to us anyway.”

“S…sorry.”

“I can barely even hear you. But you’re missing one thing.”

“Th…thank you. I lived because of you.”

Hurst let out a deep sigh and stared blankly at the dark sky. Anyone who saw him might think someone had stolen his wife.

“What brings you here? Did you come looking for me?”

“I was curious.”

“Curious about why they follow me?”

“Yes. They are clearly swordmasters. They’re not people who would serve under someone else.”

Hurst had fought Karis before, but not Jena. Even so, he recognized that Jena’s skill wasn’t beneath Karis’.

“There’s no obligation for me to answer that.”

“If you’re holding onto some kind of weakness, why not let go of it now?”

“You’re insane. Delusional. You think the young master is holding our weakness? What nonsense are you spouting?”

Jena cut Hurst off and mocked him. Karis also smirked and shook her head in disbelief.

Even Rodin was speechless with astonishment.

“So that’s not it?”

“Of course not. And whatever reason we may have for following the young master, it’s none of your business.”

“But a swordmaster…”

“You really hold that title in high regard, don’t you? You’re no different from a frog in a well.”

Jena and Hurst had different perspectives.

Jena remembered the era of the Magic Empire, when 8th-circle and 9th-circle mages were commonplace.

Back then, even a newly appointed swordmaster couldn’t walk with his shoulders squared anywhere he went.

But after becoming a master, Hurst had met no opposition. He acted however he pleased, and no one could stop him.

“It’s better to just kill him.”

“The young lord hasn’t given permission.”

Karis and Jena looked at Rodin with earnest eyes. They were truly hoping he would give the order.

“We can’t just kill everyone we don’t like. Let him be. We’re not going to see him again anyway.”

“Understood.”

“The young master is too kind for his own good.”

“Given the mood, are you really going to stay here? If it were me, I’d move on.”

At Rodin’s words, Hurst continued to hesitate.

His pride was wounded and he wanted to leave right away, but his curiosity about the mage named Rodin still lingered.

After agonizing for a while, Hurst made his decision.

“I’ll go. But we’ll meet again.”

“If fate allows, we’ll see each other again. Now go.”

Hurst took his party members and departed.

In truth, Hurst wasn’t supposed to be here. He had accepted a mercenary request to participate in the Battle of Nine, so his priority was to report to the Mercenary Guild.

Whether the request was a failure or a success was uncertain.

If the condition was a single victory, then the request was fulfilled. But if it required more than that, then it had failed.

Rodin also went into his tent to get some sleep.

Karis stood guard in front of Rodin’s tent, and Jena kept watch at the front of the wagon where Larry and Bianca were sleeping.

*

A peaceful daily routine resumed. From dawn till dusk, it was a repetition of what they’d always been doing.

They passed through several small towns and villages as they traveled. At one point, the scenery was so beautiful that they rested in the same village for three days.

Because they traveled so leisurely, they only arrived at their destination, Lientas, on the 27th day.

“Wow! Bro, this place is insanely huge!”

“Big Brother Rodin, there are SO many people. I think it’s more than the Marquisate of Richmond!”

The Marquisate of Richmond was the largest city in the inland territory of the Lennox Kingdom.

In contrast, Lientas was the largest city in the entire Maven Kingdom. Its population even exceeded that of the capital, Rabon.

“Yeah. I’d only heard about it before, but seeing it for the first time, it’s pretty surprising.”

“Bro, how long are we staying here?”

“I haven’t decided.”

Rodin genuinely hadn’t made any plans at all. If needed, they might end up staying here for over a month.

“Weren’t there places we absolutely had to go?”

“It’s not urgent. The Marquis of Richmond and the Tower Master Tamia went ahead, so they’ll take care of it.”

Unlike Rodin, they were moving with urgency.

If they hadn’t taken a break at all, they might have already crossed into the Kingdom of Luvain. Even moving at a moderate pace, they would arrive in Luvain within five to six days.

They were quite far from here by now.

“Bro, the security checks here are strict.”

“That’s because of the Marquis of Rotten.”

It had been just under a month since the territorial war ended.

In that time, the truth about the Marquis of Rotten had spread across the entire continent.

Naturally, there wasn’t a single person in the Maven Kingdom—his birthplace—who didn’t know the truth.

When you think about it, it was a horrifying incident.

He had mishandled an artifact and had his body taken over by an ancient soul. It could have happened to any other noble, not just the Marquis of Rotten.

In any case, there was now a continent-wide bounty on the Marquis of Rotten. The ancient soul was a problem, but what caused more outrage was that he had mobilized his entire army during the territorial war.

It was a violation of the traditions of the territorial war.

The royal family was enraged, and the other nobles who had been preparing for the territorial war were equally furious.

“Then I guess he can’t even enter any towns now?”

“He’s not alone. I think he has at least one, maybe up to three, accomplices.”

It’s extremely difficult—nearly impossible—for an ancient soul to find a suitable body.

By some stroke of luck, the Marquis of Rotten had secured a proper body, but the odds of the same thing happening again were near zero.

“You think more ancient souls have been released?”

“Yeah.”

“But you said it’s almost impossible for a soul to find a matching body. And you think there are more?”

“Yeah. One of them already has a body. If he starts selecting hosts, the chances go up drastically. Well, even then, finding a perfectly matching body is still nearly impossible.”

If possession were easy, the world would’ve long been taken over by ancient dark mages. The reason dark mages are so scarce is because of that very difficulty.

“Still, this is going to take a while.”

“Sure seems that way.”

They were checking every piece of luggage during the inspection. It was a process to make sure no one was sneaking in.

They had passed through many towns and cities so far, but none had as thorough of an inspection process as Lientas. It was stricter than even the wartime conditions in the western continent.

“You think we’ll be able to get in today?”

“Probably, but looks like lunch will be on the roadside.”

That prediction proved true. Even when lunchtime arrived, the line had barely moved. They had no choice but to eat lunch inside the wagon.

It wasn’t until after 6 PM that they finally managed to enter Lientas. Fortunately, Rodin had already organized all the luggage himself, so their inspection time was short.

Hyung_Otaku2

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