TME 06

Chapter 6

He had come here with nothing more than a vague dream of revenge and a desire to learn about the Rohan Empire, but reality was not so easy.

Unless he became an 8th Circle Archmage, the dream of every black mage, and turned the Rohan Empire into a wasteland.

Heh.

At the thought that suddenly came to mind, Cain could not help but let out a dry laugh.

Even Duke Forn, who had been the court mage of the Magic Kingdom and the tower master of the Black Magic Tower, had only reached the 7th Circle.

No, the 8th Circle was such a lofty realm that no one had reached it through black magic in nearly 300 years.

“Hmm……”

He needed some means of earning recognition so that he could penetrate deeper into the Rohan Empire.

However, with nothing but his own body, there were very few things he could do.

He needed an organization that could highlight his abilities.

One that would allow him to approach the capital, while also allowing him to make full use of his magical abilities and giving him a certain degree of freedom.

“Is that place the only option after all……? For now, there’s no other way.”

“So this is Romanes, the capital of the Rohan Empire……”

Clip-clop, clip-clop—

Clip-clop—

In the middle of the main street of Romanes, the capital where carriages and messengers were constantly moving about,

Cain, dressed in luxurious black-and-white clothes, stood looking at a huge building rising directly in front of him.

The building was the Imperial Palace.

The tops of the Imperial Palace rose so high that they seemed to touch the sky, and each of them shone white.

There were also arch-shaped roofs engraved with the White Rose symbol, the symbol of the Holy Empire.

The shops and taverns lined along the main street were noisy and lively.

The mansion where Cain had stayed until recently had been so gloomy that it seemed like a ghost might appear at any moment.

In contrast, this place was so developed and noisy that his ears almost hurt.

The free-spirited citizens were full of energy.

To the people of the Magic Kingdom, who had lived believing that moderation and frugality were virtues, such a sight might have seemed strange.

“One dark beer, please.”

“Yes, yes, sir. Here you go!”

Cain entered the busiest-looking tavern and ordered a dark beer.

Cain had enjoyed dark beer for a long time, and because other drinks did not suit his taste, he always drank this.

He did not like drinking alone, so he would usually call his trusted subordinates and drink beer with them.

Now that he was alone, however, he felt strangely empty.

But Cain shook his head and tried not to think about the past.

The past he remembered now was nothing more than an irreversible memory from a distant time.

Gulp, gulp.

The taste of the dark beer he had not drunk in a long time was sweet.

The beer brewed in Zergard and the beer here in the Rohan Empire seemed to taste quite similar.

As Cain drank his dark beer, he carefully looked around.

He was curious about what life was really like for the people of the Holy Empire.

They said the lives of commoners were not very different no matter the country.

Still, he wondered if there might be something different.

People talked about taxes, which seemed to rise more and more each year.

They talked about a young man and woman from the neighboring village who had married and started a family.

They talked about the tyranny of a local lord and the exercise of the lord’s right of the first night.

They talked about men’s activities at night.

They were all trivial stories.

At the same time, they were interesting and kept arousing his curiosity.

“Hey, brother. First time here?”

Just then, someone spoke to him.

The young man’s way of speaking was rough, but judging by his clothes and appearance, he looked refined enough to be the son of a noble family.

He seemed to be around Cain’s age, perhaps a year or two younger.

Cain nodded.

He answered without saying anything.

“People from Romanes normally don’t drink alone in taverns. Drinking together is almost a tradition here. So when someone drinks alone, they either have some special reason or they’re from another region.”

“……!”

It was a man Cain had never seen before.

Yet the moment he heard the man’s words, Cain felt a chill run from the top of his head down his spine.

Hiding his true feelings, Cain stared at the young man with cold eyes instead of answering.

The young man glanced around and then wet the tip of his finger with water.

Then he drew something on the dry, rough wooden table.

It was an ancient language.

Although it was an ancient language that was no longer used, Cain had once studied ancient languages, so he could understand what the young man had written.

Zergard.

The ancient word meaning Zergard had been written in a slanted manner.

After confirming it, Cain looked at the young man with a slightly surprised expression.

He had thought he had hidden his identity perfectly, but someone had recognized him.

However, he could not simply admit something based on an uncertain guess.

Cain calmly spoke.

“Do you have some business with me?”

“I can tell by your eyes. I can feel the power of darkness in them. It’s very gloomy and cold. They’re the eyes of someone seeking revenge. Am I wrong?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Cain cut his answer short.

Then he quickly activated the mana inside his body.

It was only a precaution, but if the young man dug too deeply into his identity, Cain intended to kill him and silence him at any moment.

He had thought he had changed his appearance perfectly, but apparently, he had left a weakness somewhere.

“What brings you here? You’re dressed like a noble, and I don’t think someone like you would normally come this way.”

“That’s none of your business.”

“You look like a mage, too. The ring on your finger, and your body doesn’t look like the body of someone who has trained with a sword. You don’t look like someone who came all the way here, right in front of the Mercenary Corps, without thinking. I was planning to apply to the Mercenary Corps as a swordsman. Anyway, if you don’t mind, I’d like to ask about your family. What’s your name?”

“House Adrian. Cain Adrian.”

Cain answered confidently.

He had completely memorized the information about Baron Adrian’s family.

“House Adrian? Hahahaha, hahaha! Puhahaha!”

The young man stared at Cain and repeated the name.

Then he suddenly grabbed his stomach and burst into laughter.

He laughed so loudly that, for a moment, everyone nearby turned their eyes toward him.

Of course, those gazes soon returned to their own companions.

“Why are you laughing?”

Cain found the young man who had suddenly appeared before him suspicious, but at the same time, he was curious, so he asked.

“You’ll have no choice but to laugh when you see this. Puhahaha! Damn it! Hahahaha!”

Bang!

As soon as he finished speaking, the young man pulled something out from inside his clothes and held it out in front of Cain.

At that moment, Cain’s expression slightly twisted, as if he finally understood the young man’s reaction.

Lopes Adrian.

The family name was exactly the same.

Even the family crest and registered address matched.

Judging by the family records, the two of them were cousins.

But in reality, there was no one left alive in House Adrian.

“Stop with the useless talk and follow me. You know the meaning of the ancient language I wrote, don’t you?”

“……”

Cain belatedly cursed the old man who had forged his genealogy for him.

But it was too late for regret.

More importantly, Cain was curious about the identity of the young man in front of him.

The fact that he seemed to have guessed Cain’s identity but had not exposed him and was instead speaking like this meant that he had another purpose.

‘Could it be…… that this man is also……?’

The strange sense of kinship Cain had felt when he first saw him suddenly seemed to have a reason.

“I’ll pay. Boss!”

“Thank you, sir. Have a good day!”

Whether he noticed the strange tension flowing through the noisy tavern or not, the owner sent the two customers away with a friendly smile.

Then he brought over a rag and mechanically wiped the table.

At the same time, the ancient writing the young man had made was naturally erased.

Soon, the table was clean, as if no one had ever sat there.

3

The place the young man took Cain to was a remote area away from the main street, where shabby houses were gathered together in a tangled cluster.

When they entered one of the houses, Cain saw furniture covered in dust.

Even at a glance, it was obvious that this abandoned house had not been lived in for a long time.

The young man signaled with his eyes that this was not the place and walked farther inside.

Then he slightly lifted an old-looking wooden board and moved it aside.

A ladder leading down underground appeared.

“What is this?”

Cain asked suspiciously.

He still could not properly understand what the young man was thinking, so he remained cautious.

It was only natural.

The young man seemed to understand Cain’s suspicion as well.

“Then shall we talk here?”

“If you try anything foolish, I won’t let you off.”

Cain spoke in a cold voice.

It was not an empty threat.

If the young man tried anything unnecessary, Cain intended to take his life without hesitation.

The young man had said he planned to apply to the Mercenary Corps as a swordsman, so he was probably fairly skilled.

But that was no reason for Cain to feel inferior.

His magic, which had reached the 4th Circle, had become even more refined through his training.

If he combined swift movement magic with attack magic, he could easily kill even a swordsman at the level of a Royal Guard Knight in a one-on-one fight.

And depending on the situation, he could even use the Spell of Annihilation to give the man suffering worse than hell itself.

Even without that, the 4th Circle was by no means a level that ordinary knights could take lightly.

“Then sit there. I’ll sit here. I suppose you’re worried that I might pull a knife on you. If you’re really that suspicious, I can even take off my clothes.”

Whoosh. Swish.

As soon as he finished speaking, the young man took off his shirt and threw it behind him.

His smooth upper body was revealed.

Cain sat at a suitable distance and maximized his ability to sense mana around him before staring at the young man.

“Let’s get straight to the point. I’ll ask you just one thing. You’re from Zergard, aren’t you?”

“No.”

Cain immediately cut him off without giving himself time to think.

While learning the information about House Adrian, Cain had constantly brainwashed himself.

For now, in this place, he was nothing more than a natural-born citizen of the Rohan Empire.

“You paid 3,000 gold at the black market and bought a new genealogy. Isn’t that right?”

“I’ve never done such a thing.”

“You’d better tell me the truth. There is no one left alive from House Adrian. It’s a baron family on the outskirts with no territory, so most people don’t know about them. But I do.”

“Don’t talk nonsense about something you don’t know properly. I’ve never done that.”

Cain’s fist clenched on its own.

He did not like the young man’s attitude.

The young man spoke as if he was looking down on Cain, or almost threatening him.

Since he knew so much about Cain, Cain did not lower his guard.

“You may not know this, but there are many Rohan Knights disguised in civilian clothes throughout the Holy Empire. You don’t have to be from the Magic Kingdom to know about their reputation. They’re famous for being able to smell the darkness. If they notice you, you’ll be killed immediately. Do you know why?”

The young man pointed at Cain’s clothes.

“Because there is far too much black in what you’re wearing.”