chapter_0013

13 – Monster and Lion

13 – Monster and Lion

“Red Mage Sharen has become the exclusive magician of the Crones Family?”

The news of Red Mage Sharen becoming the exclusive magician of the Crones Family spread across the entire continent in an instant.

The ones most surprised by this news were the Blackrose Family, a major lord family in the west.

Count Mordic Blackrose, the head of the Blackrose Family, could not hide his astonishment upon hearing the news.

“It’s been a long time since I’ve seen my father so surprised.”

“It’s news that an idealistic magician has settled down. Even I can’t help but be surprised.”

Sharen had stayed in the Blackrose territory for about three months.

Though it was a short time, her magical abilities were astonishing, and they intended to make her the family’s exclusive magician with a salary over ten times that of an ordinary magician.

However, she left the territory, saying, “The darkness of the Blackrose Family is too deep.”

“The Crones Family… I never expected her to go to such a family.”

“Indeed. I thought she would go to the Tarwin Family in the north or the Seraphim Family in the east.”

“I thought so too. Considering her disposition, those were the only options.”

Mordic had spoken with her a few times.

So he knew a little about her thoughts, and he believed that the only families that suited her disposition were those two.

Yet, she had gone to the completely unexpected southern Crones Family.

“I thought of them as mere salt merchants from the south, but it seems I underestimated the Crones Family.”

The image of the Crones Family was that of southern salt merchants.

They had made a lot of money from the monopoly on salt, but they merely hoarded that wealth without actively lobbying the royal family or hiring knights in large numbers, and people referred to the Crones Family as the salt merchants of the south.

The fact that they had recruited Red Mage Sharen, who possessed enough power to disrupt the balance of power in the territory, was astonishing to Mordic, who knew the history of the Crones Family.

“This new lord of the Crones seems special, Father.”

Ivy Blackrose, Mordic’s daughter and the family’s steward, shared the information she had gathered.

In fact, she had already been aware of the information coming from the south for some time.

She had learned that a new lord had been appointed to the Crones and that he was implementing various reforms.

Labor wage adjustments, improvements to the equipment of knights and soldiers, customs reforms, and so on—the new lord of the Crones had made very aggressive reforms and had already achieved numerous results.

Among those results, the most significant was the recruitment of Red Mage Sharen, but even without her, Ivy believed that the new lord Calix Crone had already become a remarkable figure.

“Was it Calix Crone?”

“Yes, that’s right. Father, he is currently being referred to as the ‘Silver Dragon of Crone’ among the people of the south.”

“The Silver Dragon of Crone… That young man already has a dangerous nickname.”

Five hundred years ago, when the empire was still a kingdom,

the Novarens Kingdom waged a conquest war to unify the continent.

During that war era, numerous tales of heroes were recorded, one of whom was Draigon Crone, the first head of the Crones Family and a great general of the Novarens Kingdom.

Out of respect for his superhuman achievements and bravery, people referred to him as the silver dragon blessed by the sea god “Crone.”

“Ivy, investigate the Crones Family and the south carefully.”

“Yes, Father, I will double the number of investigators.”

In fact, she was already in a position to increase the number of investigators.

She had anticipated that her father would give such an order, and her curiosity was even greater.

“I can really feel that the game is about to begin. I’m truly looking forward to seeing who will be the winner of this Game of Thrones.”

Mordic said as he gazed at the moon outside while savoring fine wine.

Ivy felt she understood the unspoken words of her father.

“The one who laughs last is always us.”

That was the motto of the Blackrose Family.

Red Mage Sharen has become the exclusive magician of our family.

Upon hearing this news, Hart and Noah rejoiced and said,

“It all went according to the lord’s plan. I can’t believe he figured out the preferences of the luxury-hating Sharen and gave such orders… Truly, the lord is amazing.”

“I was surprised too, my lord. I thought you were making a mistake by neglecting Sharen.”

“Hahaha… How could that be, Hart? Hahaha!”

“Indeed. Hahaha! The lord would never make such a mistake, and I doubted it. I apologize.”

“Forget it. It’s all in the past. Hahaha…”

My heart raced several times.

Thus, Sharen officially became the exclusive magician of the Crones Family.

I could feel my reputation skyrocketing madly in the invisible game UI.

Surely, somewhere far away, like the Blackrose Family, they would have started sending investigators to me.

Sigh… Thinking about the future made my head ache.

It seemed like there would be tremendous pressure from the surrounding territories… What should I do…

Ah, I don’t know!! I’ll think about it when problems arise later!!

With that, I tried to turn my eyes away from reality.

“My lord!!! Urgent news!”

“What is it!?”

But this damn world wouldn’t leave me alone.

Honestly, it seems too much to not let me rest for even a second.

“The Deeprock swarm has appeared!!”

“The Deeprock swarm has appeared!?”

“Deeprock”

A monster with a fish body and limbs that lives in the deep sea.

These monsters gather in groups at regular intervals and breed like crazy, but when food becomes scarce in the deep sea, they swarm out to the surface.

Their intelligence is at the level of goblins, so individually they are not very threatening, but when they swarm out, they become an overwhelming army that is truly unmanageable.

According to Calix’s memories, during the previous lord’s era, the Crones Family’s territory and the surrounding territories had to deploy knights to suppress the Deeprock attacks.

Upon confirming the appearance of the Deeprock swarm, we immediately entered emergency response mode.

We evacuated the civilians and dispatched scouts to assess the situation accurately.

The situation we assessed was as follows.

“The Deeprock swarm is coming from the eastern edge of the Crones territory at the Rag coast. The current estimated number is between 5,000 to 6,000, and it is increasing, so rapid suppression is necessary.”

“5,000… It’s tight, but it’s not a scale we can’t handle in our territory.”

“That’s right. Thank goodness.”

With about 5,000, the current knights of the Crones could handle it.

However, that was only if we could deploy the knights of the Crones intact.

As a bad feeling arose, the door burst open, and a soldier rushed in.

“My lord! It’s a disaster!!”

“What now?”

“The Lion Family has started deploying knights…”

“What! Knights!?”

The news the soldier brought was from the Lion Family.

After the appearance of the Deeprock swarm, the Lion Family began to deploy knights along the border of the Crones territory.

The reason was said to be to repel the Deeprock monsters coming over from the Crones.

But anyone with half a brain could tell what the Lion bastards were really aiming for.

“My lord, they’re planning to openly invade our territory while we fight the monsters!!”

“That’s right. My lord, the Lion bastards would definitely do something like that.”

The Lion Family had done such things countless times before.

Whenever there was an opportunity, they invaded surrounding territories to claim them as their own or demanded exorbitant reparations.

Especially in recent years, this had intensified, and no surrounding territory trusted the Lion Family anymore.

“Is Hadem the lord of the Lion Family out there?”

“Yes! As always, he is at the forefront.”

As expected, he has come out.

Lord Hadem, being a war fanatic, always took the lead in battle whenever there was a chance.

His appearance here was also a signal that he would genuinely invade our territory if given the opportunity.

“I will go speak to him directly. Prepare my horse.”

“Yes!!”

I sent a messenger and headed to the border of the territory with Ricain and the knights.

Meeting the warlike Lord Hadem could be extremely dangerous.

However, since their lord had come out, it was only fitting that I go.

If I made a mistake, the neck of our innocent messenger could be on the line.

When I arrived at the border where the knights of the Lion Family were, I saw Lord Hadem approaching alone, wielding a shining axe and bald head from a distance.

Seeing Lord Hadem in person was impressive in many ways, not just in appearance but also in his actions, resembling a berserker.

I had come with ten knights and Ricain, yet he approached alone, which was truly remarkable.

“Lord Hadem, it’s been a while. How have you been?”

“Yes, I’ve been well. Calix.”

As neighboring lords, Hadem and Calix had not been without exchanges.

However, as could be inferred from Hadem’s tone, he looked down on the Crones Family and Calix.

I went straight to the point.

“I’ll be direct. Either fight the monsters or join us in battling the Deeprock.”

Hadem seemed slightly taken aback by my words.

But soon, he spoke as if he found it amusing.

“You’ve grown a lot, Calix, to speak so directly to me.”

“I am a lord. If I don’t grow, my people will suffer.”

In Hadem’s memory, I would have been the weakling from before the reincarnation.

But now, I was myself.

No matter how weak I had been originally, I had to speak my mind.

“Trying to grow strong for the weak? That’s why you’re still a brat.”

Hadem lightly dismissed my words and replied.

Then, he slammed his axe into the ground and said,

“Surely you know my answer.”

At the end of the axe lay a severed snake, dead.

I responded to his words.

“The weak are devoured. So don’t be weak.”

“Yes, you know that very well.”

Hadem’s motto of the Lion Family was “The weak are devoured. So don’t be weak.”

In other words, Hadem was telling me that if I became weak, he would devour me, so I should prepare accordingly.

I had anticipated this, but to hear it come out of his mouth was truly berserker-like.

But then, Hadem said something unexpected.

“However, if you were to come under me and fight for the prince… it wouldn’t be impossible to fight together.”

This man is making such a proposal?

The Hadem I knew would never make such a suggestion.

He looked at me with great amusement and said,

“What will you do, Calix?”

Like a lion… more precisely, though he was a hairless lion, Hadem looked at me like a beast.

I sighed and replied.

“You know my answer, right?”

“Are you saying you’ll stay at the very bottom?”

“Look up from the very bottom to the highest place.”

That was the motto of the Crones Family and my guiding principle for survival here.

I answered as the beloved lord of the Crones.

“It’s not about being at the bottom. It’s just knowing what’s most important.”

“Well, if that’s your choice, there’s nothing I can do.”

Hadem casually pulled out an axe the size of me and slung it over his shoulder.

“I will watch how the weak crumble from here.”

He turned his head and walked away.

I responded, trying not to be intimidated by Hadem.

“Feel free to watch. You will have quite an entertaining view.”

Yes, it would be a very entertaining sight.

It was time to show the flames of the Crimson Sorcerer to a lion that feared nothing.

Author’s Note

Thank you, [Kwon Cloud]!!!

I will write the next chapter with all my heart, filled with your spirit!!!!!

Thank you, [Black Mask Lover]!!!

I will continue to strive to repay you with interesting and good works!!!!

Sharen’s exploits will begin in the next chapter.

Nuclear Launch Detected.