Chapter 38. Deputy Commander of Nemesis (2)
Enoch wore a blank expression.
It was because of the sight of the training ground spread before him.
“What is this.”
The personal training ground used by the past Enoch.
A facility as vast as the Elsyde family fortress itself, large enough to dwarf any decent sports field.
But it was a place neglected by Enoch for 4 years.
Naturally, when he first saw it, it was a complete mess.
Dust and mold were living harmoniously with broken training equipment and spiderwebs. Honestly, it wouldn't have been strange if a ghost popped out right then.
‘It was definitely like that.’
But then, what was this scene unfolding before his eyes now?
Enoch briefly rubbed his eyes and opened them again. However, the training ground's appearance remained completely changed, 180 degrees different.
As if sparkling sound effects were ringing in his ears, the underground training ground was incredibly clean and comfortably bright, with no trace of its previous state.
“What is this?”
Enoch stared ahead with a somewhat bewildered expression.
The spiderwebs, dust, and moldy wooden training tools had all vanished without a trace. Completely new-looking furniture and equipment boasted a shine.
Moreover, the dark and gloomy interior was gone, replaced by bright lights shining brilliantly from the ceiling. At this point, he would believe it if someone said the entire interior had been renovated.
“…Did I come to the wrong place?”
Enoch muttered once, then walked backward to check outside the door again.
But no matter how many times he checked, this was his training ground.
It was truly baffling.
“What on earth…”
Tap.
Just then, from the far end of the underground training ground, Lien appeared holding a broom.
With her usual flowing silver hair, she glanced this way, then calmly began organizing cleaning tools into the storage container she brought.
Apparently, Lien had just finished cleaning the entire training ground.
“Did you clean all this by yourself?”
Lien nodded as if it were obvious.
Her hands were full of various cleaning tools.
Enoch was speechless at the unfamiliar sight.
She took off her black gloves last and retorted coolly.
“Hygiene issues might negatively affect the Young Master’s body.”
“Hygiene?”
At her short reply, Enoch finally recalled something.
Last time in the training ground, Enoch had coughed just once after inhaling dust.
Lien, who saw that beside him, seemed to have cleaned this entire place by herself.
Of course, considering Lien’s personality of caring for Enoch, it was plausible, but……
“That’s not it, why were you cleaning…”
Enoch stopped mid-sentence upon seeing her white apron.
Only upon seeing the familiar maid uniform did Lien's original occupation come to his mind.
Right.
She was a maid, wasn't she?
A fact so obvious, yet forgotten for a while. But honestly, it wasn't that he was insensitive; it was understandable.
In fact, anyone would think so just by looking at her accomplishments so far.
An image of Lien indiscriminately annihilating enemies with wires flashed through Enoch’s mind.
Swish.
Leaving him be, Lien walked out with the cleaning tools, her usual calm demeanor intact.
Enoch stared blankly at her retreating back for a moment.
‘At this rate, maybe Lien has more talent for cleaning than Rank 10 magic?’
He looked around the training ground again, which was sparkling to an absurd degree.
Honestly, all he could say was that it was amazing.
To perfectly clean the vast training ground, neglected for 4 years, without a speck of dust in less than 4 hours.
The training ground he saw back then was, giving it the best possible light, no different from a garbage dump with some swords scattered on the floor for atmosphere…….
‘In any case, I should thank Lien.’
Regardless, it was a hundred times better for him.
The underground training ground was an important place for Enoch. Because it was practically the only place in the fortress where he could train with the sword without worrying about others' eyes.
Continuing to train while smelling mold in such a place might cause respiratory problems.
Enoch looked around, impressed inwardly.
‘It’s become clean as if by magic.’
It was truly tidied up without a single speck of dust.
But even in the vast training ground, there was just one place.
One place that hadn't changed.
-The graveyard of numerous swords, abandoned in one corner of the training ground.
It seemed Lien hadn't touched that at all.
‘…Did she leave it thinking it was a trace of the previous Enoch?’
Enoch approached the graveyard of swords stuck scattered on the floor and paused his steps briefly.
The curiosity he had vaguely felt before intensified as he examined the training swords one by one.
‘It’s still strange.’
When he first saw it, he simply thought it was a large collection of training swords. If Enoch's purpose was sword training, there was nothing strange about it.
But looking closely now, there was something quite peculiar about the swords abandoned here.
‘There isn’t a single identical type of sword here.’
Not only the sleek one-handed longsword like the one the Last Sword Saint used.
A balanced, long, and massive two-handed greatsword,
An Eastern-style single-edged sword curved elegantly,
A pair of twin swords crafted as a matched set,
An exquisite and nimble rapier,
A huge and heavy glaive,
etc….
The swords he had trained with were truly ‘all types of swords’.
‘What on earth is the reason?’
A very common-sense question arose.
Naturally, training in just one type of sword should suffice.
Realistically, one couldn't swap between such various types of swords one by one during combat.
Yet, why had Enoch trained with so many different types of swords?
‘…It’s not immediately necessary information, but it bothers me strangely.’
Having thought that far, Enoch shook his head.
The stray thoughts in his mind scattered.
Anyway, there were still too many unknowns about what the original Enoch had been thinking.
This too was something he could slowly figure out later.
There were more important things to worry about ahead, not just one or two.
Swish.
Having thought that far, Enoch slowly lowered the cloth bag slung over his back.
Untying the knot revealed the sword.
‘First, I need to think about how to hide the fact that I use a sword, not magic, going forward.’
The Empire was a meritocratic society.
But before that, it was a magic-based society where 90% of the Imperial citizens were mages, and everything ran on magic.
The day it was revealed to the world that a direct descendant of the Main House supporting such a Magic Empire used a power other than magic…
It was obvious what would happen to the family’s reputation.
If that happened, the crisis of disownment might arise again. He had to consider that possibility too.
‘In any case.’
He raised the sword, facing forward.
‘I should start with what I can do right now.’
In one corner of his vision where the sword pointed.
The light of dark blue mana bloomed clearly.
Woong
Enoch slowly raised his head.
His dark blue eyes were already staring sharply ahead at empty space.
Increasing the efficiency of mana projected onto the sword should be possible simply through sword training.
He hadn't even taken sufficient rest after returning from the mission, but he couldn't afford to be lazy in training.
‘Because soon, a ‘major incident’ that occurs in the original work will strike.’
Opportunity favors the prepared.
To ensure success in the upcoming incident, he had to grow even slightly more.
Because….
‘That mission must be succeeded in order to prepare for a definite point in the original work’s timeline!’
***
By the time he finished training and left the basement.
Outside, the sun was already setting.
The scarlet hue coloring the massive Elsyde Fortress.
That quiet vitality faintly colored the crowds of numerous mages bustling within the Elsyde castle grounds.
People were busily coming and going here and there throughout the vast fortress as usual, each going their own way.
Young mages carrying glass bottles filled with various colored reagents or their respective artifacts.
Even white-haired mages walking with modernized staff-like magic gear.
Enoch, walking while looking around, realized anew that this was the pillar of the Magic Empire. The Main House.
‘Come to think of it, I haven’t had the leisure to properly feel this kind of atmosphere until now.’
Perhaps it was because he had finally resolved the disownment issue, the fire burning under his feet right after possession.
The sudden sense of reality felt slightly strange.
However, Enoch wasn't the only one unilaterally observing the surroundings.
- …Hey, you look over there too!
Someone’s voice reached Enoch’s ears.
-Ah, is that him.
-That person is Lord Enoch Elsyde, who succeeded in the Exemption Mission this time….
Small voices of a man and woman chatting on the fortress balcony, some distance away.
And it wasn’t just them.
Whispers directed towards Enoch could be heard faintly from various other places.
The rumor seemed to have spread thoroughly throughout the family.
‘I expected it to some extent, but it seems the Exemption Mission case became a bigger topic than I thought.’
Enoch’s hearing seemed quite good too.
Normally, voices shouldn't be audible in such crowds and distance, but he could hear them quite well.
Just then.
Enoch’s eyes narrowed slightly as he walked down the corridor.
“Enoch Elsyde! Seeing you here again!”
Ahead in the corridor he was heading towards. Because a familiar boy was standing there.
- Dionil Elsyde.
Current 8th Circle direct descendant.
The sibling closest in age to Enoch, whom he had seen last time.
A direct descendant who held hostility towards Enoch since the past.
Honestly, he had forgotten until now……. He didn’t expect to run into him again here.
He too seemed to have finished training with his Follower Family, as he was accompanied by several mages.
“I heard the news.”
He stood facing this way and sneered.
“Solving that impossible mission. Talk about sheer luck, what luck… Wait, hey!”
But Enoch was already turning the corner beyond the corridor.
There was no need to entertain the childish provocations typical of immature teenagers.
‘…But, come to think of it, aren’t I still around that age group too?’
Briefly shaking off the strange sense of dissonance, Enoch continued walking.
Thud.
Just as Enoch reached the end of the corridor. This time, another familiar face caught his eye.
“Ah, Young Master Enoch! You’ve returned just in time.”
Executive Officer Grantel’s exclusive butler.
His name was definitely… Bartlec, wasn't it.
“Executive Officer Grantel Skyll wishes to see you, Young Master.”
He approached Enoch, bowed respectfully, and added.
“The Executive Officer wishes to hear your opinion regarding a part of the report from the Exemption Mission you were dispatched on previously.”
A summons from Grantel.
But Enoch had already finished reporting to him about the last mission.
Yet, the fact that he was calling again meant….
‘Looks like it’s about to start.’
Enoch slowly nodded towards the butler.
Watching Bartlec lead the way down the fortress corridor for a moment, Enoch also slowly began walking. Just then, Bartlec glanced back as if remembering something and opened his mouth.
“Ah, come to think of it. Another person also wished to see you for the same matter, Young Master.”
“Another person?”
“Yes.”
The butler glanced back at Enoch slightly and said.
“You’ll know when you get there.”
***
“You’ve arrived, Young Master Enoch.”
The massive fortress of the Elsyde Main House.
The executive office located high up on its upper floors.
Grantel greeted Enoch as usual, standing with his back to the office’s vast glass window.
However, this time Grantel wasn't alone.
Enoch, standing before Grantel, briefly glanced sideways.
A female mage in a familiar black uniform stood in the room.
‘Teano, was it.’
A neat beauty with long violet hair and amethyst-like eyes.
During the staged theft he committed right after possessing Enoch. She was the one who arrested him.
‘Didn’t expect to see her again here.’
Swish.
Dressed in her usual Knight Order uniform, she removed her formal cap as a sign of respect towards Enoch.
Holding the removed cap against the chest of her uniform, Teano slightly closed her eyes and bowed her head respectfully to Enoch.
Her long straight hair flowed down slightly.
Grantel introduced her to Enoch from the side.
“This is Deputy Commander Teano of the Nemesis Knight Order. Acting Commander in the current Commander's absence. She is here to share information regarding Vendetta, which was part of the mission report you submitted, Young Master.”
「Nemesis Knight Order」
A knight order pledging loyalty solely to the Lord’s command and the family’s precepts.
Direct descendants and Follower Families. Factions of combat mages belonging to the family, subsidiary organizations, etc.
Amidst the complex and intricate balance of power governing the family’s affiliated mages, the elite of Elsyde’s elite, uniquely symbolizing ‘absolute neutrality’.
The Deputy Commander of such an elite knight order.
Teano quietly opened her mouth.
“…Congratulations on completing the Exemption Mission.”
Enoch gave a short nod.
Although it was a staged act, she was the mage who arrested him before, so it felt slightly awkward.
Moreover, Teano was one of the mages who didn't appear in the original work.
She was still an opponent he needed to be cautious of.
Beside her, Grantel also spoke.
“I too offer my congratulations, Young Master. News of your success in the Exemption Mission, which no one had accomplished until now, is already spreading like wildfire throughout the Empire.”
Enoch smiled wryly at his congratulations.
Gaining fame.
It wasn’t particularly welcome from his standpoint.
He wanted to avoid unnecessary attention as much as possible for now, but this couldn't be helped.
“Ah. You may not be accustomed to it yet, Young Master…. But the citizens of the Magic Empire are very interested in the Main Houses that govern each field of magic.”
Grantel advised, as if telling him to be mindful from now on.
“To the extent that even major influential newspapers and media outlets for the Imperial citizens are filled with reporters focusing solely on covering the Main Houses.”
But while the family might be pleased that the despised direct descendant had fired the signal flare for revival.
He himself wasn't particularly amused.
“…The reason for the summons?”
Changing the subject, Enoch brought up the main point first.
“Ah, Sir Teano will ask you directly.”
Grantel glanced sideways at her beside him and said.
“The Deputy Commander initially requested to see you regarding the mission, Young Master.”
Grantel gestured to Teano standing beside him, as if yielding the floor.
“Then I shall speak.”
She nodded once and slowly opened her mouth towards Enoch.
“Persona, whom you subdued this time, Young Master, was, as you know, a dark mage who murdered a mage belonging to our family in the past, and a key figure in Vendetta, directly subordinate to the dark mage named Tantalus.”
“I am aware. It was the mission.”
“On that point, I would like to ask one thing.”
“What is it?”
Teano’s eyes shone, her posture straight.
“Previously, mages from our family, including Nemesis, attempted to arrest or eliminate her, but those attempts always ended in failure.”
Having said that much, she paused briefly.
Teano’s neat gaze, which had been fixed on Enoch until now, narrowed slightly.
“Precisely because of that, I wanted to ask you directly, Lord Enoch, who succeeded in this mission.”
Teano’s amethyst-like violet eyes shone darkly as she asked in a cool tone.
“…Lord Enoch, 9th Circle. How did you defeat the Rank 10 dark mage, Persona?”