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Chapter 268

The military unit that came after that was the problem. Following the team, the troop numbers reached 100,000 units. Instead of meaninglessly beating them to death or burning them, I chose to kidnap only the commanders.

The kidnapping was not difficult. We could just go and capture them. It was effective, and I could get information from the kidnapped commanders.

Of course, the soldiers who occasionally opened fire or tried to get their commanders back were very annoying, but it was still tolerable though. In addition, we were able to extract information from them.

If you looked inside the room, your eyes would fall on the sorcerers kneeling before the source. It was a sight that truly comforted me.

It looked as though they were taking a test on the past of the Joseon Dynasty, as they were scribbling furiously on paper.

[Everyone’s writing hard.]

Of course.

The commander, who had been captured for the first time, said that there was no such thing as a sorcerer in the unit, but it was not true. When the number of troops gathered near the spire exceeded 200,000, we were able to find a good army sorcerer. In addition, I gathered hunters, mercenaries, and sorcerers who were wandering around for investigation, and was able to acquire as many as a hundred sorcerers.

After catching a hundred or so sorcerers one by one, I had a simple request: to write down all they knew about sorcery on paper.

[But if it’s like this, there won’t really be any important sorcery facts.]

I didn’t know how to answer that. If I knew a little bit about sorcery, I could just ask for some information, but I didn’t know anything about sorcery, and it was in vain to ask for only important information. I didn’t have the ability to tell the difference between what was important and what was not important.

I peered over the shoulders of some sorcerers to see what they were writing. I felt as if I were an investigator at a test site. As I was walking slowly, making sure they were writing well, a sorcerer made me halt.

“You’re really going to send me back when I fill up this paper, right?” The shivering sorcerer who was filling up his paper asked me.

He was the only young sorcerer among the other elderly-looking sorcerers.

“Of course I will. You’ve finished writing already. Isn’t that right?”

I asked back in a soft voice, but the sorcerer first shook his head like an Aspen tree, then proceeded to nod his head up and down. Initially, he spoke to me with courage, but when I was talking about the paper, he seemed to be scared. I glanced at the piece of paper that the scared little sorcerer was writing down. It seemed flawless, but a closer look showed that there was a font size difference between the letters on the top and the ones on the bottom.

“But if you make the font size like this… Did you really think I wouldn’t notice?”

“I’ll reduce it! I’ll reduce it!”

“Yes. The letters should be as small as possible. Least amount of spacing. Make the lines shorter. Don’t repeat the same things in all thirty-five pages. Okay?”

The little sorcerer started to fill up the paper again, hastily replying, “Yes, yes!”

I shook my head and kept walking. Something was a little strange. I thought that they were too afraid of me.

Of course, I made some threats, arrested them, and punished them for resisting, but even considering that these sorcerers were a bit too afraid of me.

[Is that a joke? You’ve done all sorts of things and you don’t know why they’re scared.] Ahbooboo reprimanded.

No, listen. It was not my first time threatening someone.

[Very proud, aren’t you?]

Anyway, I’m an artist, if not a specialist of intimidation. With this view of mine, these sorcerers were overly afraid of me. It was to such an extent that I didn’t think there was any need to threaten them.

[Maybe it’s because of that.]

‘That’ referred to the source that was nailed to the wall of the spare room. Surely the condition of the source was quite appalling. Its upper body was cut open and its insides were visible. Blood was pouring out from the small cuts and incisions made, and a pool of blood was collecting under its feet. Looking at it, I felt a little sick. It sometimes let out weak groans, as if it was still alive.

Ahbooboo’s opinion was plausible. As an experimental subject, it had been a major sorcerer who was capable and famous enough to be a source. For people, it may have been a monster that blew up a country’s capital, but it might feel different from other sorcerers.

[No… I think they were just scared to see something horrible in front of them.]

Is that so? Well, maybe.

I glanced at the sorcerers and kept walking forward. A hundred or so sorcerers were kneeling in front of the wall at which the source was hung. Beyond that, the commanders of each unit were kneeling in a cramped area.

Because they were neatly kidnapped without any resistance, there were no signs of injuries. Nevertheless, fear was evident on their faces. The commanders, who whispered among themselves, closed their mouths as if nothing had happened, as soon as I came near. It was obvious what they were talking about.

They were secretly talking about who I was, and how to escape. Or maybe they were looking for a chance to fight back. I was wondering what to do with them, when one of them asked me in a slightly trembling voice, “What do you want from us?”

“What do I want?”

The primary reason for capturing them was to gather sorcerers. I wanted to get some information before this stage got over. It would be better if I could hear about this world.

Come to think of it, that was all I wanted. I had captured commanders who led 200,000 soldiers under them, but I didn’t care much about them. They were all ordinary human beings, even if they were soldiers. Whether the number was 100,000 or a million had little to do with me. No matter how many they were in number, they were neither helpful nor dangerous to me.

“It’s not like you’ve kidnapped all the commanders of the armed forces of each country for nothing at all. Say it. I’m in the army, but I’m also a member of the royal family,” the commander said.

“The royal family? So you’re a prince?”

“I am. For ransom, I can give as much as you want, even more than that. Be it gold or something else.”

Something else? Not gold? I wondered what he was thinking of giving.

“You seem to have no affiliation. I can provide you with a title, territory, wealth and honour, a whole new status. I can give you anything. As long as you free us,” the prince explained frantically, thinking I was interested in his words, but it wasn’t a tempting offer for me. Not at all. Not taking notice of whether I was pleased or not, the prince continued quickly.

“Of course if you want something else, I can give it to you. Come to think of it, I know so little about you. This is the only way to make a proper proposal. Can’t you tell me what you are and what you want? So that I can make a better offer.”

It was interesting. The prince was obviously afraid, but in the midst of that, he still held a bit of hope and composure. I wondered what this weird rationale was.

Was it confidence? Confidence in his noble status and power, that made him assume that I won’t hurt him rashly.

Or was it optimism? He may not be able to judge a crisis because he had never really been in such a f*cked up situation in his life, so he was negotiating with the idea that it would work out somehow.

“Well, mind telling me what you know about me?” I asked him.

“Yes. What I know about you is that you’ve got your hands on that monster that blew up the capital of the Kingdom of Rossina. And a very, very powerful sorcerer, warrior, and an assassin.”

Well… you might think so.

I had only kidnapped commanders and sorcerers without fighting.

I was wondering what to say to the prince when I heard a loud laugh from behind me. It was a mocking laugh, that sounded half maniacal.

“Strong sorcerer? Do you want me to tell you who he is? Hahahaha!”

The man who spoke was one of the commanders who had been quietly bound. The prince, who was talking to me, looked back at the third party with an unpleasant look and asked, “Can you tell me what’s so funny? Lord Jengent?”

The commander, who was giggling like a madman, seemed to be called Jengent. Jengent once again laughed at the prince and suddenly said, “Who’s he? You want me to tell you who he is? You’re going to give him a title? You idiot! Can’t you recognize the ancient demon right before you!”

The ancient demon. What an absurd misunderstanding.

“Can’t you see the terrible sight of the archmage hanging over there on the wall!? Look at those surgical instruments and grotesque experimental tools that we’ve never seen before. He wants to gain knowledge of sorcery, and in less than a day, he kidnapped us all. He was surrounded by 200,000 soldiers, but he talked peacefully without any sign of panic. No tension, no fear, no sense of accomplishment. As natural as ever. I feel like my nose will go crooked from fear any moment now. Do you think humans can do that? That man is the ancient evil demon that had been sealed under the royal castle!”

[You’re absolutely right, I can’t argue with you.]

I told the teasing Ahbooboo to shut up. Unconsciously, I made eye contact with the prince, who backed away with a frightened face upon seeing my gaze. There seemed to be nothing more to talk with the prince. I turned my head to Jengent, who was still screaming.

“Well, let’s just say I am.”

I didn’t think he’d believe it if I said that I wasn’t the devil. It didn’t really matter to me even if he believed me or not.

The commanders were momentarily tense, stiffening their faces as I seemed to accept that I was the demon. There was also a weak roar coming from the source behind me.

“If I were the demon, what would you do?” I questioned.

What are you going to do, get excited and talk about it?

It was easy to see from the way that the Jengent was talking about it. Still, I asked in a half curious, half bored manner. “What are you going to do? Announce that I’m the devil?”

I slowly approached him and asked, making him shift backwards nervously. Jengent, though distressed by my question, slowly gave his answer. “I have come… I’ve come to see you.”

“You came to see me?”

“Yes… I came here to find you, ancient demon.”

What came out of Jengent’s mouth was a totally unexpected answer. So he thought I was an ancient demon? He came to me even though he knew that?

“I want to make a deal. In exchange for my soul.”

What a nut job.

[He really has an eye for people. Oh, wait no, he has a keen eye for demons.] Ahbooboo snickered.

< Tutorial 59th floor (3) > End

*This translation belongs to Centinni.*