Chapter 24: A Magician Bound

Unlike my teacher, this one wore a flamboyant robe. The magic power I felt was already stronger than mine. If he’d cast a spell while we fought, even I would’ve had a hard time.

And yet, all he did was tremble, unable to do a thing.

‘That’s not what I heard.’

His personality was nothing like what assassin Keldin had described.

I’d heard the Vice Boss was ruthless to the weak, sowing fear among friend and foe alike. But this was the complete opposite.

He’s timid.

Either he’s someone who’s weak against the strong, or he’s suffering from an unexpected trauma.

‘How interesting.’

Magicians, who are bound by their minds, can crumble in the most unexpected ways.

Normally, I would have cut him down. That was the plan. But it felt like I could change things up a bit.

“Uhh… P-please… Forgive me… I’ll do anything!”

“I’ll forgive you.”

“Ah…”

With just that, he let out a sigh of relief.
“O”

But as I stepped closer, his teeth began to chatter again. I ignored him and placed my hand on his body.

Sss—

I poured my internal energy in to check his condition. Just as expected. As I’d heard, he had a seal similar to Geumje placed on him by a higher-up. Assassin Keldin had a similar Geumje.

It must be a standard-issue seal.

‘This one’s even nastier.’

It’s not something I can’t undo. In these things, Murim is actually more advanced. From Soul-Stealing Technique to curses that use insects, Murim has all sorts of tricks for binding lives.

‘Still, it’s rather basic.’

Though using magic power to seal someone is hard to undo with magic,
PAGAK—

If you use internal energy to burn it out in an instant, it disappears.

“Guaaaagh!”

Of course, the price is unspeakable pain, enough to make one wish for death. Still, it’s better than dying. With the Geumje completely gone, it was time to impose a new one.

I infused Reton’s body with my internal energy, issuing a command at the same time.

Reton’s body twitched. He’s a magician, so he had to be sensitive to internal energy. That energy wrapped around his heart. His circle became my hostage.

“Repeat after me. I pledge upon all the mana in my body to enact the Oath of Mana.”

“Uhk… Huh? Gah.”
1000—

With internal energy, I stimulated the circle near his heart.

100…

“I-I’ll do it. I pledge upon all my mana to enact the Oath of Mana!”

Wuuuuung—

Good. The magic around us responded. That’s proof he’s invoking the Oath of Mana himself.

The Oath of Mana is a kind of law. Any magician who stakes their mana on an oath is bound to keep it. The hard part is forcing them to cast it.

Once it’s cast, it’s over.

“Good. Now say this. ‘Even if it means my death, I will devote my utmost loyalty.’”

“I-I will devote my utmost loyalty until I die. No matter what it is… I swear upon my mana.”

“Good.”

He adds in words I hadn’t even told him to say, making the vow.

Wuuuuung—

The resonating magic completely dies down. That’s proof the Oath of Mana worked.

A 3rd-class magician. He’s timid, but that doesn’t matter. With the Oath of Mana, he’ll follow any order. His own life is his highest priority, so he’ll see it through no matter what.

‘Didn’t expect to gain such a harvest.’

Now then.

If I were Jegal Hyeon, how would I act? While dealing with intruders in the Jegal Clan territory, how did he move? Yes.

Parakho inevitably crop up like poisonous mushrooms. He rounded them up and sowed fear. Using that fear…

‘He picked out the useful ones. Used those worth using, killed those worth killing. Then dismantled the organization and rebuilt it. He never grew its size, only maintained it just enough to control.

He left behind things like gambling dens and Giryu that never disappear. Instead, he only clamped down on drugs, human trafficking, and assassination.

Back then, managing all that was too much trouble, so he never even considered that method, but now, it’s fine.

“Uu… Command…”

Now I have a faithful subordinate who trembles in fear.

“Let’s work together.”

Having an insider always makes things easier.

“Let’s open a new world in this territory.”

“Y-yes!”

He may look a bit stupid, but Reton is a useful talent. If he were truly stupid, he’d never have made it to 3rd class. Using him, I started reorganizing from the inside.

Anyway, the so-called executives were all sent by Dark Moon. They work hand in glove with the rotten retainers in this territory while also serving as their watchers.

Even without the executives, the organization will run fine.

‘I’m going to cut it down even more anyway.’

I left only those who had to remain. But for the places that had rotted so thoroughly they were run by beasts, I went in personally.

“Here it is!”

With Reton leading the way, nothing escaped me.

Those involved in human trafficking. Those who torture others excessively. Those who distribute drugs.

I got rid of anyone who couldn’t be redeemed, who was too far gone to use no matter what.

“Guaaaagh!”
“Th-the Black Reaper…”

With Reton’s help, things moved faster than expected. In the process, I learned that I’d gained a new nickname.

The Black Reaper? Isn’t that the kind of nickname you get only if you’re an edgy teen with delusions of grandeur?

“Who the heck came up with that lousy nickname?”

“Well…”

“…Was it you?”

“…Ahem…”

The culprit wasn’t far away.

‘Even in Murim, Jegal Hyeon’s nickname was nothing special…’

Jegal Hyeon’s nickname was the Divine Jegal Hyeon, a reference to Zhuge Liang’s reincarnation. It was a laughable nickname, but everyone knew it.

Back then, Jegal Hyeon himself was so embarrassed by his nickname he didn’t know what to do.

But now I’m stuck with something even worse. The Black Reaper. I never imagined this would happen.

“Ugh…”

A sigh slipped out. Jegal Hyeon tried to get rid of his nickname, but the more you try to get rid of such things, the more they spread. My nickname is already set.

“Damn it… Just show me to the next spot.”

“Y-yes!”

“…Ugh. Seriously.”

I can’t even give him a good smack. Damn. There’s no helping it.

“Let’s get to cleaning up.”

All I can do is keep the riffraff from crawling out of the back alleys.

If I get rid of all those who dare call me by that wretched nickname, I’ll have my answer.

The North, overrun by monsters.

The situation in the North, which had gotten so urgent even the Count of Ophern had to move, was slowly improving.

Even the Count can’t exterminate all the monsters. If he pours all his strength into the North, those eyeing the Count of Ophern’s territory will rush in.

But pushing the monsters back to their own territory is possible.

-Kieeek!

Crunch— The Count’s sword, blazing with aura, severed the charging Lizardman’s throat. Pressed to the brink, the Lizardmen fought with a desperate frenzy.

Northward, ever northward.

We kept pushing them up. On the way, we burned countless Letman villages and skinned goblins by the dozens. All that remains now is this Lizardman swamp.

-Kieeek!
-Kiek.

They were persistent. They’d leap out of the swamp to attack, ambush us between the long trees that stretched over the wetlands.

Unlike when they invaded the territory, here in their own domain, they made good use of the terrain.

“Advance!”

“Kill them!”

Even so, the Count of Ophern stubbornly ordered the charge.

By the time the sickening rot of the swamp began to wear on us, the edge of the Lizardman village came into view.

The end of the village marked the near-completion of the northern conquest—or, more accurately, the cleanup.

“Casualties?”

“Thirty soldiers, sir. No Knights lost.”

“That’s a lot. You’d think they’d be used to it by now…”

“I’m sorry.”

“No, even that is impressive.”

He led three thousand soldiers in the North. By the time all the Lizardman villages had been dealt with, only about two thousand five hundred remained. With the wounded, there were only about two thousand fit for duty.

‘A thousand lost…’

It’s a painful loss.

The standing army in the North totals five thousand. All are elite, precious soldiers.

Not just anyone can be a soldier. In this world, it’s mostly able-bodied men—who are also their families’ breadwinners.

Just recruiting them puts a huge dent in the territory’s productivity.

And it doesn’t end with conscription. They have to be trained as soldiers. To raise them to this level, even a crash course takes a year.

The resources spent during that time, the drop in productivity—these are fatal to the territory.

Even so, we raised those soldiers, all to defend the North from monsters. And yet, to have a thousand die—it’s a heavy toll.

“It’ll take a long time to replenish the losses.”

“The harvest wasn’t without merit. Lizardman hides and Letman teeth should sell for a good price.”

“But still, it’s not enough…”

Money can be secured. Monster carcasses have value.

The problem is people. In this territory, people aren’t an easily secured resource.

‘I need to think of a way to gather more people.’

The northern battle was winding down, but the work ahead was still mountainous. The only relief was—

“Father! Everything’s finished here. Should we begin the burning?”

“Do so. Good work.”

“It’s nothing! I’ll finish up the rest.”

—even if he left the North for a while, his eldest son Eldin could stay behind and wrap things up.

In the meantime, he would have to reorganize the territory’s affairs, look into the situation, and find replacements for the dead soldiers.

‘I want to see my family again after so long.’

Soon, he’d be able to return home. The Count moved with that thought in mind.

‘It’s done!’

The organization was completely cleaned up. The only thing left was to finish reorganizing the remnants—and that wasn’t my job.

“Finish the cleanup.”

“Yes, sir!”

Reton, surprisingly useful, adapted faster as time went on. He did the jobs I assigned without causing any trouble.

The rest of the work would be finished by Reton. Of course, there were still things to deal with. For one, there were quite a few rotten retainers left.

A sort of traitor.

Even I was surprised when I took the traitor list Reton handed me.

‘Two Barons among them—I never expected that.’

Plenty of the bribed and corrupt weren’t just Barons; even among the Administrative Officers, more than twenty were implicated.

Considering how few Administrative Officers there were for the size of the territory, that was a huge number.

I needed a plan to sweep them out, too.

But that wasn’t my job for now. My job was done once I secured the evidence and witnesses.

With both evidence and testimony secured, my father the Lord would take care of the rest when he returned.

‘I could just send an anonymous report.’

If I leave irrefutable proof, my father’s personality won’t let him ignore it.

So, for now, the rat extermination in the territory is done. Even the higher-up organization, Dark Moon, isn’t making any moves in this unexpected situation.

It started as a brief outing, but I got plenty out of it myself.

“I finally got it.”

“Oh…”

I told you, didn’t I? While cleaning up the organization, I planned to line my own pockets a little. Call it a bit of pocket money.

With that money, I pressed Reton. The result was in his hands.

“Well done.”

“Th-thank you!”

So, as a bonus—

He’d procured Magic Stones. Even for a fortune, Magic Stones are hard to come by, but he’d managed to get two.

“What about the Magic Book?”

“I-I’ll have it sorted out soon. Almost finished.”

Reton also managed to get the Magic Book he’d learned from Dark Moon. As a magician in the organization, the magic Reton knew wasn’t just the standard stuff.

‘Didn’t think he’d learned forbidden spells, too.’

Maybe not Necromancy, but he’d learned spells banned for being too deadly.

For example, Cloud Kill.

This 3rd-class spell generates a toxic cloud using magic power. Its range and lethality increase with magic power, and just inhaling it can kill an ordinary person instantly.

For its cruelty, it’s forbidden, but Reton had learned it. He also had several other highly lethal spells.

My teacher, as a War Mage, might know them as well.

‘He probably won’t use them… and I’m not going to teach them yet. Maybe never.’

Rather than gamble on slim chances, it’s better to seize things myself.

If I use these well, I can apply them to my own magic and martial arts. Then I’ll become even stronger. But before that—

“Well, get to work.”

I had to finish my own tasks.