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Translator: uly
Chapter: 7
Chapter Title: Out, Out, Out—Three Strikes, You're Out!
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There were some readers who suspected the author had knocked back a few hefty bowls of beer before writing.
And it wasn't without reason. Not only the heroes, including the protagonist, but even the villains—all of them made it damn near impossible to find a single sane character.
The author seemed to secretly revel in that aspect, even running a poll on the topic: "Who's the craziest character?"
With so many mentally unstable folks in the mix, it turned into a fierce competition. And proudly claiming third place was none other than Raido.
'A mage?
A sage?
Shove that crap up your ass and choke on it.
That guy just wanted the thrill of beating people senseless, so he learned healing magic—only for his mage abilities to suddenly awaken!'
Who in their right mind learns healing magic just to patch people up, beat them down, patch them up again, beat them down again, and keep repeating the cycle—only for their magic powers to go boom! out of nowhere?
Yet that absurd feat was exactly what Raido had pulled off.
"Kekekeke."
Don't laugh, you crazy old coot!
Sion screamed internally as he unwittingly took a step back.
Up to now, Raido hadn't made a single threatening move—he was just smiling.
But to Sion, that scene was no different from a great demon grinning wickedly as it sauntered over, arm outstretched, inviting him to cross the River Jordan together.
At least Kim Yu-hyun had Lucia as his shield.
Sebastian, for all intents and purposes, was the official butler of the Clauzen count family, so he couldn't lay a hand on the family's young lord without consequences.
But the man standing before him, Raido? He was a different beast entirely.
He was the lunatic who only followed the king's orders after two or three reminders, who the crown prince openly called "brat," who mocked the ministers as "empty-headed fools"—a man whose sanity had flown the coop completely.
Sure, he was endlessly soft and doting toward Lucia, but she wasn't here right now.
One wrong move, and Sion could get beaten to death. Or driven to the brink of death, only to be perfectly healed and beaten all over again from square one.
"Speak up, son of Lichten."
"..."
"Why the troubled look?
You, who used to strut around without a lick of sense."
Could he have somehow figured out that the soul inside had changed?
Every wild thought raced through Sion's mind.
But there was no mention anywhere in the novel of human souls swapping places.
In other words, even a court mage like Raido probably hadn't considered that possibility.
'No need to freak out!
Showing fear will just expose a weakness!'
And once you showed a weakness, anyone would want to sink their teeth into it—and Raido was the type who'd exploit it ruthlessly.
He sure as hell wasn't the kind of guy to say, "I'll let this one slide. Come at me again."
"Raido-nim."
Sion figured there was no point pretending ignorance now that his own mouth had uttered Raido's name.
Bowing his head with utmost courtesy as he spoke the name, he watched Raido raise one eyebrow.
"You talk like you know me well."
"Is there a noble in the kingdom who doesn't know Court Mage Raido-nim?"
"You trying to pick a fight with me right now?"
A smile crept across Raido's lips.
At a glance, it might seem like a kindly old man's grin, but Sion had to shake off the goosebumps prickling his skin.
Killing intent—this was unmistakable killing intent.
'I'm dead!
Author, I'm gonna die!'
Had Sion Clauzen ever faced Raido like this in the story?
No. Absolutely not.
Raido taught Kim Yu-hyun the pinnacle of martial arts and lived quietly until the Great War against the demons broke out, where he massacred celestials left and right as the Serial Slaughter Demon, laughing all the while.
He even perished in their suicide bombing, shouting the legendary line "Explosions are art, you bastards!" right before blowing up alongside them—a man whose madness had rocketed past Andromeda into the far reaches of the universe.
And that lunatic was standing right in front of Sion.
Radiating killing intent like he was ready to tear him apart any second.
"Be honest, and I'll spare you.
Did that Lichten bastard spill my secret to you?"
For a split second, Sion nearly nodded yes.
The desperate urge to escape this terrifying man's grasp, his eerie gaze, was overwhelming.
"No."
But his mouth moved independently of his brain.
Stunned by his own immediate response, Sion was even more shocked to see Raido's reaction.
He'd unleashed enough killing intent to crush any greenhorn into spilling the truth under pressure—and yet the kid was acting like it was nothing.
'This little shit's got some guts.'
Curiosity—or rather, playfulness—stirred in Raido, and he ramped up the killing intent.
Sion's face promptly drained of color.
He was on the verge of collapsing from respiratory distress, but the words from his mouth remained steady.
"My father never breathed a word to me about your secret, Raido-nim.
I swear it on the name of the Clauzen count family."
"..."
At this point, it had to be the unvarnished truth.
Unless the kid was utterly immune to this level of intimidation.
"Then explain.
How did a worthless punk like you—who gets competitive with a five-year-old sister—figure out my secret?"
"...It started with rumors circulating among the merchant guilds."
"Rumors?"
"The court mage oversees all mages in the palace and stands at the heart of magical research.
Naturally, a steady supply of magical materials flows into the palace for that purpose."
"And?"
"When you were at the palace, Raido-nim, the deliveries were mostly materials for healing magic research.
But about a decade ago, they suddenly changed.
From healing to ignition spells, then to materials for amplifying firepower."
Raido let out an involuntary "Oho" at Sion's words.
The new court mage who came after him was indeed obsessed with fire magic—hopelessly so.
"That's a flimsy reason, like something dangling between your legs.
It's just speculation, isn't it?
Couldn't the court mage simply have shifted research from healing to fire magic?"
"Here's the list of materials that were consistently delivered back then.
Fairy tears, night sky dew, demon blood, angel feathers.
All top-grade magical materials that even major guilds struggle to procure.
Those were delivered to the palace up to that point.
But from a certain moment, they started going not to the palace, but to the merchant guilds handling the margrave's trade."
"..."
It was a sharp observation.
He'd been careful—splitting shipments, making them irregular—but persistent digging would uncover it eventually.
"After delivery to the guilds, those items were resold to magic supply shops in the castle town.
Now, if someone bought such high-end materials, the shops should've turned a hefty profit, right? But the tax records say otherwise.
That points to cooked books. So I investigated—and those materials were never officially sold.
They just vanished like ghosts."
"Hmm."
"My father must have been the first to receive this report.
But a man who values his territory above all kept silent and played dumb.
Then those materials were transported somewhere else by a single resident.
Do you know where that final destination was?"
Raido unwittingly clamped his mouth shut at Sion's words.
He looked like a thief caught red-handed at his hideout, standing there dumbstruck and speechless.
"An empty warehouse in a small village.
It was supposedly communal storage for the villagers, but it held none of the tools or goods they actually needed."
"..."
"And right next to that warehouse is the house of the very man standing before me."
With that, Sion fell silent, gauging Raido's reaction.
Truth be told, this wasn't some brilliant detective work or personal investigation on his part.
He'd simply recounted, in his own words, the novel's description of how Raido smuggled those pricey materials out of the palace and used them in the margrave territory.
"..."
Fortunately, Raido didn't react with "You've uncovered my secret—time to die nicely!"
He just slightly lifted the corner of his mouth in faint approval, idly stroking his chin.
'Did I survive?
Fuck, did I make it?'
Sion could feel his survival odds skyrocketing from zero.
Suppressing a sigh of relief, he decided to drive the point home before Raido could think twice.
"If you wish to punish me for my rudeness to Lady Lucia, I'll accept it gladly.
A subordinate's sin is the master's failing, so punish me harshly if you must—I'll take it."
Raido adored his one daughter with utter devotion.
At the mention of Lucia, Raido's mouth twitched.
He wanted to curse the kid out, but if word got back to her, he'd face her monumental wrath—and he wasn't confident he could handle that.
"Ha!
You've got some nerve, kid."
Raido sighed, striding over to yank out a chair and plop down.
He propped both feet on the table, laced his fingers, and cradled the back of his neck.
"Sion Clauzen, was it?"
"Yes."
"You deduced my secret from that, sensed the winds of war...
Not bad at all."
"Thank you."
"But why hide it?"
The pointed question left Sion momentarily silent.
It wasn't hiding—he'd just had his soul swapped in—but how the hell was he supposed to explain that?
"You answer everything else fine, but clam up on the weird stuff?"
No killing intent this time, but that made it scarier for Sion.
A madman hiding his madness was always at his most dangerous.
After a brief internal debate, he sighed and spoke with evident hesitation.
"I want to live properly for once."
"What?"
What fresh nonsense is this?
Raido's reaction said it all.
And who could blame him? The guy who'd lived like a total wastrel was suddenly talking about turning over a new leaf?
"What kinda bullshit is that?"
"Just as I said.
Yes, I was a worthless punk, worse than a five-year-old sister.
But at some point, this Sion Clauzen started looking utterly pathetic.
So I steeled myself.
Time to live right for once.
It's not too late yet."
"...Hmm."
"Rebirth, or reformation—call it what you will."
Yes, this was reformation.
The only way for Sion Clauzen—the weakling who'd lived a shit life—to survive.
He had zero intention of lording over everyone as an absolute powerhouse like Kim Yu-hyun.
If survival was his trial, he'd claw his way through somehow.
As a diehard fan of the novel, flailing around and dying would waste all the time he'd invested—and that'd be infuriating.
'Yeah, I'll survive.
And as Sion Clauzen, I'll live fucking brilliantly!'
Meanwhile, Raido, who'd been staring at Sion, tilted his head slightly and spoke.
"Hey."
"Yes, Raido-nim."
"Fine, I'm Raido.
So you know what kind of guy I am, right?"
"Of course."
"Good, then this'll be quick."
Raido rose from the chair and slowly approached Sion.
He flashed a grin and opened his mouth.
"How about becoming my disciple?"
...Huh?