The Sword Genius of the Magic Empire - Chapter 104



Only Krnovel

“My, my lady. That’s… . lungs…!”

Lily, flustered by Enoch’s sudden actions, waved her hands around behind her. The saintess watched her for a moment and slowly shook her head.

“It’s okay, Sister Lily.”

“Yes, yes? But….”

“This is the moment when I was concluding my prayers.”

She turned elegantly half-turned and looked this way. Her habit, resembling a nun’s habit, and the white veil she wore over her hair rippled with her movements.

“Rather, I would like to thank you for bringing our distinguished guest here. Thank you for your hard work in guiding us.”

The saint smiled faintly under the bright sunlight. Lily seemed moved by that beautiful smile, her eyes sparkling and she nodded her head slightly.

Lily’s expression seemed to clearly show a feeling of admiration, as if to say, “Ah. As expected of a saint…!” Enoch simply looked away without saying anything.

Seeing such reactions, I felt like I had some idea of ​​how the nuns and others in the church usually thought of the saint.

“Then, I will step aside, Your Majesty.”

Lily lowered her head, glanced this way, then carefully closed the door with both hands.

Swish. Smack.

Soon, the large door behind him closed silently. Enoch turned his head without saying a word and looked at the saint before him. It was a new experience, but it was a new experience.

I never thought I would see one of the most famous characters from the original work right before my eyes.

“The introduction is late.”

The saintess felt my gaze and placed her hand on her chest and spoke.

“My name is Saint Amelia. Nice to meet you, Enoch.”

Naturally, my eyes were drawn to her outfit.

A breathtakingly beautiful appearance, but with a lot of exposure, specially made for a saint. It was an outfit that accentuated her body, including her ample chest.

In fact, even in the original work, Amelia was one of the most popular characters because of her appearance and settings, even if you exclude the fact that she was a tier 1 healer.

Especially because of the saint’s unique clothing design, there were many jokes and fan art floating around the community asking if this was really a priest.

But perhaps because of her dignified air, when I actually saw her in person, even that outfit didn’t feel out of place.

I just thought it was part of an outstanding appearance that made me exclaim, “Oh, really?” I can immediately understand why it receives overwhelming support from the people of the empire.

“This is Enoch Elseid.”

Judging from what I just found out, there’s no need for a lengthy self-introduction. The person who named this place in the first place is a saint. There’s no way she wouldn’t know this.

As expected, Amelia nodded slightly.

“You came on a mission. You arrived right on time.”

“I would like to hear a precise explanation.”

Saint Amelia straightened her back and said.

“Lord Enoch, to get straight to the point, I will be leaving the Holy Land tomorrow and heading to a mining city in the northern wilderness outside of Elseid.”

At those words, Enoch narrowed his eyes for a moment.

“If it’s a mining city outside of Elseid territory, then it’s “Pangaion”?”

The saint opened her eyes slightly. Her emerald eyes were filled with surprise.

“You know?”

“…To some extent.”

Mining city, Pangaion.

A city built in a remote area where ‘magic stones’, a special material that is almost essential for the production of artifacts and magic tools of the modern empire, are mined.

It also appeared as a major stage in the original work.

As it was a city originally formed around a mine, it was a barren area far removed from the mainland. However, it was by no means a small place.

Immediately, questions arose.

“Why would the saint have any business in such a remote city?”

“As I said earlier, this is a city where demons have suddenly appeared recently, causing many people to get hurt and their lives to be in danger. In particular, it is said that there is a severe shortage of medical personnel in Ojira.”

The saint continued her explanation, elegantly bringing both hands together in front of her.

“So, I’m going to provide relief to the victims of the disaster in Pangaion City. It wasn’t my original intention to go there… .”

She said that much and then shook her head slightly. It seemed like she didn’t think she needed to say anything more.

Enoch nodded.

“So, what exactly do you want the escort to do?”

“I would like Enoch to sit next to me in the vehicle and act as my escort at my residence during my stay within the mining city for a few days.”

“There’s one more thing I still don’t understand.”

Enoch tilted his head and asked.

“There will be bodyguards attached by the religious order around the saintess when she moves outside. Who are they?”

“Actually, I was just going to introduce you to him.”

Then Amelia looked over Enoch’s shoulder for a moment, toward the door they had come through, and said:

“Everyone, come in. You’re already here.”

The voice of the saintess speaking like that had somehow become a little cold. Then, the door opened and, with the sound of thumping military boots, several men came in and lined up.

They all wear a uniform of luxurious ivory with a gold-trimmed cloak. Each of them carries their horse harness on their back or at their waist.

In the original work, the guards who escorted the saintess externally were sometimes depicted in the corners of the screen. They were the ones wearing the same uniforms as them.

If you count the numbers, there are five.

The level of skill of each member was unknown, and the organized aura felt from each individual made them seem like they were quite strong.

“Let me introduce you, Enoch. I am the escort dispatched by the church. Captain Antenor.”

Among them, a tall, thin man came out and bowed his head.

“I am Antenor, whom the Saintess just mentioned. I am in charge of commanding the guards dispatched from the upper echelons of the sect. Please take good care of me.”

He was a young, tall man with narrow, sharp eyes and a sharp face. He looked nervous.

Judging by his appearance, he seems to be in his early thirties.

Of course, there are quite a few cases of those who use mana aging extremely slowly, as they are in their mid-20s or early 30s, when their bodies are at their prime.

But even taking that into account, it was still a young age for him to be entrusted with the role of leader of the escorts protecting key figures in the religious order.

At the same time, I had a question. Why on earth would they entrust this mission to me, even though there were these escorts?

There seemed to be some kind of back story.

That backstory is pretty shabby, too.

Enoch nodded slightly at first.

“As I just mentioned, the sudden appearance of demons in remote areas of the empire has become increasingly severe, and as a result, many villages and cities are suffering from flood damage.”

The saint continued her explanation in a noble tone.

“Usually, only the religious order’s personnel would be dispatched… but the damage to the mining city this time is serious. It is said that the security within the city has also been ruined.”

“So, you’re assigning me and my squad to escort the designated mission. We’re going to reinforce our power in the danger zone?”

“Yes, that’s right.”

The saint nodded silently.

Then a man named Antenor suddenly intervened.

“To add a little bit, the relationship between our church, which has many excellent healers, and the Elseid family is very complicated. However, it is fundamentally a cooperative relationship. The last time, nuns and priests from the church were dispatched to the Suin Tribe’s joint mission, right?”

The saint’s expression changed slightly at his sudden intervention. Amelia looked at him and narrowed her eyes slightly.

But he still continued to spin and expand on his own ideas.

“The reason the saint asked for a mission is because it was the price for sending a healer from the religious order to the joint mission that took place in the Suin tribe village last time.”

Enoch also glanced at him without saying a word.

Antenor.

A character who did not appear in the original. The way he spoke was still polite, but Enoch keenly noticed the sharp, squinty eyes that were coldly staring at him.

It seemed like they weren’t very welcoming.

“This is Enoch’s first time on an escort mission. I think he might be a bit nervous, but I ask for your cooperation this time as well.”

Despite his polite words, his tone was clearly sarcastic. The guards Antenor was leading also had eyes that were secretly ignoring him.

No, to be exact, rather than ignoring it, there was a current of “I don’t like it.”

At that moment, the saintess seemed to sense an ominous atmosphere and started to deal with the situation with some haste.

“It is as you just heard, Enoch. Is this enough of an explanation of the situation?”

I don’t know exactly who Antenor is.

But for now, there was a need to make them aware of their position. Enoch turned his gaze towards the saintess with indifferent eyes and said.

“Considering the security situation in the mining city, I believe the current guards are insufficient.”

“… … .”

At such a cold remark, Antenor still looked at me with an inscrutable smile.

He never loses the initiative in conversation. There is no particular ill will. It is just that Enoch already knows that there is no benefit to being looked down on.

Whether it was instinct or the original influence of Enoch.

Or whatever experience you have had so far.

And if I am going to accept this assignment anyway, I will need to solidify my position.

Completely ignoring Antenor, who was engaging in such a useless and strange war of nerves, Enoch stared only at the saint before him and asked calmly.

“So you appointed me as your escort?”

“Yes… that’s right.”

Amelia also nodded quietly.

And then, as if she had made up her mind, she looked straight at me with her green eyes that resembled emeralds.

“Enoch Elseid, would you please take on the mission I have asked you to do?”

At those words, Enoch placed his hand on his chin and briefly thought about the information he had acquired so far.

After listening for a while, it seemed like I had a rough idea of ​​the outline.

The more I thought about it, the clearer the outcome of weighing the pros and cons of this mission became.

The conversation just now did not answer all the questions about the assignment. There are still some things that are bothering me.

But at least one thing was certain.

This is by no means a mission that I am simply obligated to receive because of my position as a direct descendant of the family. This mission was absolutely necessary for me.

First of all, the connection between the saint and the church was absolutely necessary in order to contrast the original work.

There are also things that can’t be replaced from the church, and that was already in the plan.

It’s just that the timing was brought forward a little due to the sudden event of the saint’s mission. In fact, it’s a good thing.

And secondly, information is coming in about the beasts’ destruction in the remote mining town.

First of all, the appearance of Flare, which we saw in Rhodes last time, and the demons that appeared in an abnormal amount.

And even the magic experiment that Tantalus was obsessed with.

All of them were in preparation for the original’s starting point. In order to do that, digging up information that wasn’t revealed in the original was the top priority.

So the answer was already decided.

Enoch looked at the saint and opened his mouth.

“I formally accept the assignment.”

Seeing Enoch’s expressionless approval, the saint lowered her eyelashes quietly, as if slightly relieved.

“… Thank you, Enoch.”

In fact, there was no reason to thank her. The mission had so many important keywords to begin with.

Besides, Enoch had already considered another possibility, a very interesting one at that.

‘Maybe it’s connected to the original main story.’

Main story.

Enoch’s heart raced a little at that thought.

In many ways, this mission itself was unexpected, but judging by these keywords alone, it was definitely a windfall.

When Enoch first heard the news of the mission, he immediately went to the station to select candidates who could be given the mission to the current Elseid.

And based on the information I had, I had anticipated some developments in advance and acted accordingly. Now, it looks like that arrangement has come together nicely.

“… … .”

At that moment, I suddenly felt a gaze from the side. When I turned to look at it, Antenor was looking at me with a meaningful smile.

Enoch also stared back at her with his dark blue eyes for a moment, indifferently accepting her gaze.

At that moment, Amelia quietly stood up from her seat between the two and opened her mouth.

“Then I will send an official letter to the Elseid family for formal approval. Thank you again, Enoch.”

The saint glanced between Enoch and Antenor, then finished speaking in a tone that seemed somewhat uneasy.

“First of all, I have a schedule inside the temple, so I will excuse myself now.”

As she rose first and went out, the escorts immediately followed the saintess.

Enoch waited a moment for them to leave, then left the room. However, he had to stop a few minutes after he left the room.

‘Oh, right.’

… Now that I think about it, I don’t know the geography of this place very well because I just followed Lily’s instructions.

It was a large, white, maze-like castle. Even if you were a first-time visitor, it would be difficult to find your way around.

Enoch tried walking down the hallway, trying to recall his memories. However, somehow he got off track and ended up in a strange, secluded hallway.

Even if you wander around, the surrounding corridors are a remote place with few people, which is what you see for the first time.

The sound of footsteps echoed loudly in the large white hallway.

Come to think of it, in the original, Seonggeo could only enter a part of the lobby, but wasn’t it impossible to enter such a deep place inside?

Enoch was about to turn around as he was trying hard to rationalize why he had lost his way.

─Phewing!

From the shadows of a distant hallway, someone suddenly fired a sharp projectile made of mana towards Enoch.