Genius Swordsman of the Mage Empire

Chapter 9. First Mission (2)

The outer city of the northern fortress of the Elsyde territory.

One of the prosperous cities where numerous crowds come and go peacefully.

It was said to be a key point for logistics and transportation, and a city full of high-rise buildings with magic engineering applied, based on the capital of wealthy merchants.

‘All settings I saw in the original story.’

But that's not all.

How far did I walk?

The deeper I went into the alleys of the outer city, the cleaner buildings and people gradually disappeared.

Enoch glanced around.

External facilities behind gray buildings and traces of flyers that were torn and pasted. Dilapidated streets mixed with messy sign lighting appeared.

Dark back alleys lined up behind the high-rise buildings in earnest.

「The Underworld of the Empire」

Unlike the seemingly normal outer city, it was the dark part of the Empire's cities deep inside.

From the past, various Main Houses, including the Elsyde House, had been catching the underworld in the Empire like rats.

However, despite the hard work of those houses, there were many underworlds that had not been completely uprooted.

‘Indeed, their power was greater than at the time of the original story.’

He took a step inside the path and took out the envelope with the details of the mission from his chest.

-

Classification: Search and Annihilation

Contents: Recovery of goods from the Order hijacked from the outer Elsyde Fortress and arrest / kill the culprit.

Situation: The Order’s transportation mechanical carriage was hijacked by an unidentified group. Based on the mutual treaty between the Order and the Main House, the Elsyde House dispatched its own personnel to conduct a preliminary investigation, but there were no results.

According to the preliminary investigation data, there were no sightings on the outer roads of the southern fortress, so it is presumed that it had already been exported to the outside of the Elsyde House's fortress.

Attachment: Reference photos of the hijacked goods and investigation data inside the envelope

Required: Memorize and shred the document

-

Rip.

As soon as Enoch read the last sentence, he tore up the directive with the envelope without hesitation and sprinkled it on the sewer drain.

The pieces of paper were soon swept away by the water and melted.

Enoch confirmed that and moved into the dark alley.

I didn’t even need to memorize it anyway.

I had checked it just in case, but it was still the same as what I had seen in the game.

‘Fortunately, these familiar roads haven't changed much either.’

Enoch moved his steps to the most secluded place in the back alley.

Then, beyond the narrow path where darkness was just beginning to fall.

“Hey!”

A man wearing a black robe with a large hood was approaching as if he had just found this side.

He seemed to be drunk because the smell of alcohol was strong. He opened his mouth in a twisted tone.

“Damn it, I can’t even see well because it’s dark. Stop for a moment. If it’s your first time, you should pay a toll.”

One of the ‘alley keepers’ who guard the paths of the underworld.

After all, the mages you can see on the streets of the underworld in such a small city are mostly no-good guys who won't even be the 18th rank.

That guy would be the same.

“Are you deaf? I said stop.”

Enoch didn't even answer the man's provocation and calmly walked forward, pulling down the black cloth bag he was carrying on his back with his left hand.

“Oh, look at this?”

The man in the robe took out a short wand from his chest and began to circulate mana.

Enoch's black eyes narrowed for a moment.

At the same time as lines of mana spread around the man and a magic circle rose, Enoch pulled on the knot of the cloth bag and kicked the ground.

Swish─

A faint metallic friction sound. The blade scattered a dark sword light in the darkness.

In an instant, I closed the distance and recalled the memories from the inner world. The senses that were not his came to life sharply from the fingertips that gripped the sword.

Whoosh─

The cyan mana bloomed from the cold blade.

The blade, which cut through the air with a chilly sound, cut off the lines of mana that crossed before my eyes at once.

The man's magic circle, which had been floating and arranged in the air, lost its mana in an instant and was forcibly scattered.

“Cough!”

The man let out a short scream and fell to the floor with a loud noise as if he had been shocked by the sudden backflow of mana.

Enoch looked at his sword with a slightly puzzled look. The movement he had just made felt a little awkward.

‘Were my movements this agile originally?’

Was it the result of absorbing some of Enoch’s experiences while understanding mana in the inner world?

‘It seems that even my athletic ability and combat senses are gradually synchronizing with the original Enoch as I use the sword.’

I could feel that I had become significantly more agile than when I fought in the inner world or against Dionil's follower family.

“W-What the hell was that just now….”

The man with his head buried in the ground muttered while looking up at Enoch with unbelievable eyes.

“This? Magic.”

Enoch answered roughly and tilted his head slightly while checking on the fallen man.

‘If you cut off the mana during the casting, does the caster become incapacitated?’

I couldn't see this type of case in the scenes I saw in the inner world.

Perhaps it was only possible to incapacitate ordinary 18th-level mages like this by cutting off the lines of mana through mana backflow, not high-ranking mages.

‘I’ll know if I experiment a little more.’

Enoch looked down at the man lying on the floor and asked.

“I’m looking for someone. Where is the ‘Warehouse Keeper’ now?”

The man lying on the floor hesitated while watching my expression for a moment.

Well, it would be difficult to answer easily.

The Warehouse Keeper was one of the powerful figures in the underworld.

In particular, his ‘business’ was making the greatest contribution to maintaining this underworld. He must be afraid of being branded as a traitor if he told me.

Of course, that wasn’t something I needed to worry about.

“Th-That’s.”

As the man hesitated to answer, Enoch silently thrust the end of his sword into his neck.

The man was horrified by the coldness of the metal pressing against his neck and soon opened his mouth.

“A-Alley 2! He’ll be there.”

After hearing the answer, Enoch silently inserted the sword into the scabbard that was piled in the cloth bag.

However, towards the alley keeper who was relieved after hearing the clanging metallic sound, Enoch swung the bag with the scabbard and slammed it into his head.

Pow!

Amnesia magic (physical).

The man on the verge of fainting opened his eyes wide.

Then he glared at Enoch, who was looking down at him with an indifferent face, and spat out a few words resentfully.

“I, I told you…?”

“I’ll take your clothes.”

Enoch then rolled his eyes and took off the robe of the fainted man.

A black robe made of modern material with both functionality and design.

When I pulled the flowing hood over my head, my black hair and face were almost hidden.

It was an excellent garment to hide Enoch's rare black hair in the Empire.

Even in a famous assassination game, even relatives couldn't recognize the player if they wore this.

It was quite a suitable item.

‘I can’t resist a hood.’

Enoch reflected his appearance in the large glass window of a nearby building.

Excellent.

With this, I wouldn’t attract unnecessary attention unless someone stared at me closely.

Enoch moved his steps lightly.

Perhaps it was because it was made of surprisingly good material after wearing it, but it was also comfortable to move in and breathable. It was a robe that was perfect to wear during a mission to hide my identity.

Judging from the fact that it was made of quite a high-quality material and had a sophisticated design that didn't match, it was probably an item that had been stolen or robbed from someone.

Well, it wasn't anything new.

The residents of the underworld were originally those kinds of guys.

“I’ll use it well.”

Enoch roughly stuffed the fainted man into a trash can next to the road and moved his steps beyond the alley.

‘By the way, Alley 2, huh.’

A slightly different location from the original game.

Was it because it was an earlier time period than the setting of the original game? I’m glad I asked just in case. I should always verify the information in the future.

There was a possibility that the man from just now had deliberately given the wrong information, but it didn't matter much.

If I grabbed other alley keepers and used ‘magic’ a few times like just now, I would know someday.

Just like it was in the game.

***

The tavern on 2nd Street was desolate in a way that couldn't even be compared to its size.

There were only about five mages.

Among the remaining empty tables and chairs, it wasn't difficult to figure out who I was looking for.

Perhaps noticing Enoch approaching, a man sitting in the innermost seat glanced at him and said as if spitting out.

“From the Order? Why did you crawl up to the rat's nest again? It's not even the regular patrol day.”

Without answering, Enoch approached in front of him.

The man, who had briefly glanced up and down at Enoch's attire, took out a thin cigarette from his pocket and put it in his mouth and continued to speak.

“…I think I’ve seen that robe somewhere around the front alley here. Did you steal it?”

“I got it as a gift.”

At Enoch's short answer, he smiled as if it were not funny at all and recommended the chair across from him.

“Judging from the way you talk and act, you’re not affiliated with the Order. What’s your business?”

Enoch put the black cloth bag he was carrying on his back next to the table and sat down and opened his mouth.

“Where is the Warehouse Keeper?”

“He’s temporarily vacated his seat for business at the business site. He’ll be back in a while.”

The man put his arm on the chair diagonally and asked imposingly.

“Anyway. What’s the business you came all the way here for?”

“There’s a mechanical carriage that was hijacked near the Elsyde Fortress three months ago.”

“Heh heh, you’re talking about that?”

The man lightly stirred the mana in the air with his fingers and lit the cigarette on the cigarette lighter.

Exhaling thick cigarette smoke forward, he stared at Enoch and said.

“Look. It’s a shabby place that’s falling apart like this, but this is the underworld. It’s a place where you do business, after all.”

Enoch briefly looked to the side.

The five mages who had been drinking quietly next to him were now all staring at this side.

The man continued to speak.

“No one comes empty-handed and just asks for things. Let me give you some advice. I’ll give you a drink, so drink quietly and leave. Unless you want to shake hands with the kind underworld residents over there.”

Another man who heard those words next to him slammed the liquor bottle on the table mockingly and spat out as if sneering.

“He’s covering it up with a robe, but he looks young. Can he even drink?”

Enoch said nonchalantly.

“It seems like you’re not ready to listen very much.”

The man snorted and replied lightly.

“Did you come here without even knowing the rules of the underworld? In this street, you either have to be strong enough to be worth listening to, or offer a corresponding price. One of the two.”

Enoch briefly looked at the men in the room. He had already grasped their level with the Sense of Mana.

‘All 16th rank. Eight in number.’

The movement of mana, swirling around them so that they could deploy magic at any time.

Judging from the looks of it, it was obvious that they were not easy opponents like the alley keeper from before.

Enoch scanned them and opened his mouth nonchalantly.

“If you need a price, I’ll pay with my life.”

“Your life?”

To the man who asked with a slightly puzzled look, Enoch replied with a natural tone.

“No, yours.”

Silence flowed for a moment.

And then the men in front of him all tilted their heads back and burst into dry laughter.

“Kehaha! I was interested because you even stole the alley keeper's clothes, but you were more crazy than I thought!”

Enoch stared indifferently at them laughing loudly.

There were eight people on that side.

They were all one-trick ponies in the underworld to the point where they would nonchalantly ignore the guy they had met in the alley, so they were not trivial opponents.

If we consider the number of heads, they were not that easy of opponents.

But it wasn't late at night yet.

So no other support forces would come from outside the underworld. Unless I dragged out the battle too much, the opponents would all be those guys until the Warehouse Keeper came.

It would be worth trying out.

Having made his judgment, Enoch kicked the table up without saying a word.

Liquor bottles and the table flew up before my eyes.

Bang!

With a loud noise, the table tilted vertically and the liquor bottle flew up.

The light of the interior was reflected in the glass bottle containing the liquor that rose into the sky. Beyond that, the man's face was momentarily filled with bewilderment.

Enoch then kicked the tilted table forward towards that face.

“Cough!”

The man was swept away by the table that rushed fiercely before his eyes and was pushed back.

The shelf that hit his back after being pushed and flying for a while was overturned, and dust and debris flew up loudly from the floor.

Thud!

Enoch discovered the mage who was just barely getting up next to him.

He immediately snatched the cloth bag that was next to the table and swung it at him. The guy who was directly hit in the face with it fell out as it was.

“I’m sad that you think I’m crazier than you thought.”

Clang!

The liquor bottle that had gone up into the sky along with the table finally fell to the ground. Pieces of glass shattered everywhere along with the contents.

Enoch slowly pulled out the sword from the cloth bag.

Whoosh─

The darkly shining blade passed by his eyes, letting out a subtle metallic wail.

Enoch smiled faintly beyond the cyan mana blooming on the blade and said.

“I’m fucking crazy.”

It wasn't wrong.

He had been crazy about games for a long time.

That's why now that he had possessed the body in the world of the game, he was ready to go crazy in every way he could imagine.

The remaining mages instantly raised their magic tools and urgently circulated mana.

Enoch looked at the flow of mana that the mages were drawing in all directions before his eyes and repeated quietly.

“…Just perfect.”

I needed a sparring partner to conduct an actual battle.

Not a situation where my life would be at risk if I failed, but just opponents of this moderate level.

Even now, the senses were flowing in from the hand holding the sword.

The memories of the original Enoch contained in his mana.

I had to adapt to all these senses whether I liked it or not.

That's why I chose a strategy that risked such a battle.

‘It’s a simple logic.’

In order for Enoch, a disposable supporting character in this world, to survive without dying, he had no choice but to become stronger.

To become stronger, I had to master Enoch's unique mana.

According to the explanation in the inner world, if I wanted to manifest swordsmanship, I would eventually have to master the sense of operating my own mana.

And to adapt to it most quickly….

‘There’s nothing better than an actual battle.’