Chapter – 22….
“These are the families that will become the greatest obstacles to our grand undertaking.”
In a vast hall large enough to seat a hundred people—something like a great banquet chamber—seventy-two individuals sat around a circular round table.
Among them were both men and women, but all of them wore masks that concealed their faces.
One man distributed thin booklets to everyone seated at the table.
“The children of these families scattered across the continent are known as the greatest geniuses within the two empires and various kingdoms. If they grow up unchecked, they will undoubtedly become formidable hindrances to our cause.”
Some people nodded in agreement as they flipped through the booklet, while others wore expressions of displeasure.
Some stroked their chins in thought, while others pressed their fingers against their temples as though suffering from a headache.
“They are all quite impressive families.”
“Agarez, attacking these families will place a heavy burden on us as well. If we attempt to annihilate all of them, we’ll lose a significant portion of our own forces. Especially the Lawrence Marquis family of the Varda Empire and the Iliya Count family—their strength rivals our own.”
“That is why we must share our opinions to find the best approach.”
“The best approach, you say…”
“It would be ideal to wipe them all out at once, but with our current capabilities, that’s impossible. No—technically possible, perhaps, but if we do that, we would need a long time to recover our strength again.”
Everyone quietly listened to Agarez.
“That is why instead of striking them ourselves, we must use schemes—manipulate the empires and kingdoms into dealing with these families on our behalf.”
“Schemes?”
“Yes. If we do not attempt to handle them all at once, but instead target one family at a time, executing a scheme and studying its strengths and weaknesses… then gradually, we will be able to eliminate them all.”
Those wearing masks exchanged whispers with the people beside them, and most responses were positive.
Agarez remained silent to give them time to discuss, and when the room eventually quieted, he spoke again.
“If I were to plan and execute such a scheme alone, it would take years. But if we all move simultaneously, correcting weaknesses as we go, the process will be swifter—and far more troublesome to our enemies.”
“Hmm…”
“So how exactly do you intend to fabricate this scheme?”
A smile curved the edge of Agarez’s lips.
“There are a few things that are strictly forbidden within the empire.”
“Forbidden?”
“Black magic.”
Silence settled over the room. Everyone sank briefly into their own thoughts, calculating. Soon, several pairs of eyes lit up.
They looked almost like children who had just found an amusing new toy.
“So you’re suggesting we craft our scheme using what we excel at most.”
“If it’s black magic, then knight households will naturally be excluded.”
Their reactions were clearly positive.
“Exactly. Mage families are full of curiosity and desire for power. It will be easy to create misunderstandings… and once public opinion turns against them, they will not be able to escape its weight.”
“A fine idea. But we must still leave traces or evidence that the targeted family practiced black magic…”
“It would be difficult to execute the scheme immediately tomorrow. But if we take a year—using my subordinates and yours to plant traces and create evidence—then it will be sufficient.”
“A year…”
“Yes.”
“Then which family do you intend to target first?”
“Our test subject will be the Iliya Count family.”
“The Iliya Count family? Isn’t that too dangerous?”
“They are only a test subject. Even if our scheme troubles them, we will not be able to bring them down completely.”
“Hmm…”
Such was the strength of the Iliya Count household, and their relationship with the emperor was exceedingly strong.
“We will gather extensive data by targeting the Iliya Count family. Then we will apply that knowledge to weaken the remaining houses.”
“The remaining houses?”
“After all, geniuses are not limited to the Amand Count family alone.”
Monster subjugation lasted for seven days. Once the knights climbed the mountain, they stayed there—hunting monsters, eating, and sleeping on the mountain. The monsters they hunted were butchered, and the meat, hides, fangs, horns, and other usable materials were brought down.
At the foot of Mount Mantova, merchants waited eagerly for such materials, welcoming the knights as they descended. The knights auctioned off the monster materials to the merchants.
The money earned was used during the knights’ and soldiers’ three-day rest period—about half of the earnings typically disappeared during those three days.
During that time, they ate and drank at temporary taverns near the mountain entrance, and some indulged themselves with women who sold their bodies to the knights and soldiers.
The senior knights did not strictly reprimand such actions.
After seven days of hunting, the accumulated stress had to be relieved somehow. From long experience, the senior knights understood that allowing such indulgence prevented far worse incidents.
Pirancheva spent the three-day rest period reviewing what he had experienced during the monster hunt, though there was little a child like him could actually do in that environment.
“The way knights use mana is too inefficient. It’s completely different from the mana cultivation technique I learned.”
Pirancheva thought of the Heavenly Demon Cultivation Method.
“Right. If dragons taught humans magic while purposely embedding fatal flaws into their teaching… then demons likely did the same when teaching humans swordsmanship.”
Just as dragons had schemed, the demons likely had as well—this explained many things about the knight’s mana training system.
“They say it’s been improved over time, but… maybe no genius capable of overcoming those flaws was ever born. Or perhaps the knowledge was simply never passed down properly.”
Pirancheva believed the former rather than the latter.
“It is said that once you learn one mana cultivation method, you cannot learn another—that doing so causes collisions between mana cores, leading to mana backlash and possibly death.”
Surely, someone must have tried experimenting.
Thus they learned that mana collisions were dangerous, and through caution, the belief became long-established tradition.
“But the martial arts manual I acquired describes something called overlap. Magic has something similar.”
Pirancheva had already organized his thoughts on overlap—and was confident in his understanding.
“What I need now is a quiet place to train.”
He thought of the hobgoblin’s cave.
“But if I ask for permission to go somewhere quiet to train, Senior Knight Rodman likely won’t approve.”
As he pondered, Pirancheva’s eyes brightened.
“I can say I’m going to gather herbs. With injured people around, I can claim I need herbs to treat them.”
He decided to keep it simple. Instead of complicated excuses, he would just mention what was most immediately needed.
“It’s too early for that now. After more monsters are cleared, I’ll bring it up then.”
Monster subjugation continued for a full month.
With seven days of hunting followed by three days of rest, the campaign progressed through three cycles.
During the first and second cycles, many were injured. Unlike before, the monsters of Mount Mantova had increased in number and had begun acting intelligently, which caused more injuries.
Pirancheva told them he needed herbs to treat the injured and asked for permission to enter the mountain to gather them.
“It’s dangerous.”
“It’s fine. The monsters have been greatly reduced, so as long as I don’t enter their territory, I’ll be safe. And with mana feeling, I’ll know if a monster approaches and avoid it.”
“It’s still dangerous.”
“If treatment is delayed, several of them will be left with permanent disabilities. We can prevent that. Living the rest of their lives crippled—how unfair would that be?”
“But…”
“I’ll be quick.”
“…Very well. I’ll assign knights to accompany you.”
“No. Having knights with me will only get in the way. If a monster appears, they’ll fight.”
“You can all avoid them together, can’t you?”
“How do you avoid monsters with exceptional sense of smell? I can erase my traces with magic, but if knights are with me, that becomes impossible.”
“Hmm…”
“There’s no need to worry about me. I’ll handle everything. But if we delay, I may miss the optimal treatment window.”
Rodman thought for a moment, then nodded.
“Fine. But if you sense danger, return immediately.”
“I will.”
After receiving his permission, Pirancheva prepared and climbed Mount Mantova.
Using mana feeling to avoid monsters, he made his way to the hobgoblin cave. He carefully checked the inside.
The hobgoblin corpses had decayed to bone, so it seemed no monsters had entered since then.
But he could not move carelessly.
He had destroyed the magic circle on the cave floor before—but now it faintly glowed again. Someone had repaired it.
“A black mage.”
At the thought, Pirancheva grew cautious. Fortunately, it seemed the black mage had only repaired the magic circle and left.
“Still, just in case… I need an alarm spell at the entrance.”
He set up an alarm spell using a mana stone.
“And a few traps too.”
He installed several magical traps, which took half a day.
Once done, he entered the stone chamber where the hobgoblin chief once resided. He cleaned it thoroughly and cast purification magic to refresh the environment. Then he drew a magic circle on the floor.
“Magic really is a blessing.”
He often felt grateful for the Freedom System.
“If not for it, it would’ve taken me ten years to reach this level.”
After checking the magic circle multiple times, Pirancheva placed a mana stone in its center.
“That completes the preparations.”
He sat cross-legged in the center of the circle and closed his eyes.
“Mana and I are not separate beings—we are one.”
As if chanting a spell, Pirancheva imprinted this belief deeply into himself. Then he began circulating the Heavenly Demon Cultivation Method.
—Mana that begins from chaos…
“Has something happened?”
Pirancheva had not returned from Mount Mantova.
It had been two days since he headed up the mountain.
“He’s a 3-circle mage. There’s no monster on Mount Mantova capable of threatening him.”
Rodman said this, but he was just as uneasy.
“But he’s still just a child.”
“That’s why I worry. But thinking of his behavior during the first and second hunts… he’s capable. That’s why I granted permission.”
Robin, Dwayne, and Polly nodded.
It was impossible to think of Pirancheva as merely a ten-year-old child. His calm judgment and ability to command others were superior to any other trainee. He knew how to deploy people properly, reduce casualties, and achieve excellent results.
“He said three days. One day remains. We wait. If we start searching the mountain unnecessarily, we might stir up monsters—and that could truly put him in danger.”
“Shouldn’t we report it?”
“If he doesn’t return by the time the third hunt begins tomorrow, then we report it.”
“Perhaps we are too lenient with him because he’s so intelligent.”
Rodman agreed.
“That intelligence…”
He suddenly stopped speaking and looked outside the tent. The other knights also sensed it—mana movement.
Rodman stepped outside, and the three knights followed. All of their eyes turned toward the summit of Mount Mantova.
“A mana flow of this magnitude… that has to be a mage.”
“Besides Pirancheva, what mage entered Mount Mantova?”
“None.”
“Then unless Pirancheva caused this… a mage coincidentally entered the mountain and is fighting monsters. And for mana to fluctuate this wildly… that’s at least a 7-circle mage.”
—It means a being that threatens the monsters’ territory is present.
Rodman recalled something Pirancheva said about monster behavior.
“I have no idea what’s happening…”
His gaze remained fixed on the mountain peak.
“This won’t do. We must find Pirancheva. Robin, gather the knights. Only knights will enter the mountain.”
