Mightiest Melee Magician - Chapter 78

The lord of the trade city Monzo, wearing multiple black suspenders and scratching his protruding belly, was Vilcos Monzo.

“He asked for you to come out personally.”

“Hah?”

“He asked for Boss to see him instead.”

“……”

He snorted after hearing that Ruin Ardell demanded the owner of the house to personally greet him outside.

“How dare a young Ardell from the boonies ask me to move? Heng! It’s not even funny.”

However, he knew it too.

“……So he wants to be treated like the winner of the Grand Festival? Heng heng.”

Even if he was the Lord of Monzo, having control of all the commerce in the southern part of the Radian Kingdom…

His opponent was a magician who won the Grand Festival.

No matter their status, no matter their age, they were to be treated with respect.

Wasn’t it a known secret that the princes had constantly been sending letters of friendship to him?

In this situation, there was only one choice Vilcos Monzo could make.

He stood up with a confident expression and gently twisted his jutting-out mustache.

“That Ardell punk. Where is he now?”

“He’s waiting at the main gate of the mansion.”

“Hengheng…… Then I should go and show him how scary real adults are.”

Vilcos Monzo declared that he would show him the scariness of an adult.

Things he liked doing: Calculating profits and losses.

Things he was good at:

“Oh my! How are you?”

“……”

“The next-generational magician and the hero of the Radian Kingdom, who was victorious in the Grand Festival! Welcome, Ruin Ardell!”

Being able to grovel at the feet of those more powerful than him.

* * *

“……”

The visage of Vilcos Monzo I first saw was truly the imprint of a greedy noble who only cared about money.

Ego in his face.

Greed in his belly fats.

Obvious lies in his words.

I naturally frowned.

“……Are you Lord Vilcos Monzo?”

“Yes. I am the ruler of this small city, Vilcos Monzo. Heheheng. Such an important person has seeked me out in this shabby place…… I am so ashamed that I cannot lift my face.”

“Then don’t lift it.”

“……What?”

“Since you’ve called me to this shabby place, stay ashamed and don’t lift your face.”

“……”

Monzo looked up at me with a sinister glare that wanted to disgrace me.

It was enough to make me interested in his past as a ‘boss’, but that was only for a moment.

He returned to his subservient expression and talked.

“Yes. Heheng…… This… Your refreshing personality is fitting of the hero of this generation I’ve been hearing about. Hehe. Then I’ll hold on my shame a little and lift my head.”

“Sure. Do what’s comfortable for you. Before that, I feel you need to re-educate your guards on manners.”

“Did my boys somehow do you wrong…?”

“I don’t know what they think about me, but they treated the Ardell house as some type of goblin tribe…… so I corrected them a little. That should be fine, right?”

“……”

Vilcos Monzo’s eyes quickly swiveled around.

He was wondering where all the guards went.

They had all collapsed to the ground.

His eyes definitely said, ‘You dare touch my men?’ but he tried to not express it outwardly.

“Heheng…… No, that’s alright. Please treat them like your subordinates and be comfortable with them.”

“Ah, you sure?”

Crack!

I didn’t hesitate as I punched the ‘youngest guard’ standing behind Vilcos Monzo right in his face.

“Kugha……”

The guard made a weird noise and stumbled backward as Vilcos Monzo’s face scrunched up a little again.

“That one needed re-education as well. It’s done now.”

“……!”

He couldn’t suppress his emotions this time and his heart started to churn uncontrollably.

He would’ve never expected for someone to lay a hand on his subordinate right in front of him.

Of course, this course of action didn’t fit a noble either.

If a subordinate made a mistake, the one to correct them should be Vilcos, not me.

However, the ‘manners of nobles’ only applied to real nobles.

They didn’t need to apply to some neighborhood thugs.

I smiled brightly.

“Are you going to keep me standing outside?”

“Eh? Ah, no no…… I wouldn’t dare. Heheng. Please, come inside.”

As I stepped into the mansion behind Vilcos Monzo, I shook my head.

“I’ll lead you personally. This is my museum here. One of my hobbies is collecting works of art…… While collecting this and that, I ended up having enough to display them to a guest. Heheng.”

Collecting works of art……

These weren’t any ordinary pieces of art. Rather, this was Vilcos’ vault of greed to satisfy himself.

A full corpse of a goblin swinging a stone axe, or a severed orc head with a weird expression on it.

They were all abnormal collections.

It was enough for me to question Vilcos’ sanity after calling these things works of art.

“How are they? Aren’t they beautiful?”

“……I don’t know. Just looking at them makes me sick.”

“Art is a subjective medium, so I understand. Heheng.”

However, it seemed like he showed this to guests to enjoy their discomfort and horror.

It was disgusting.

Didn’t I already know someone like him?

The crown prince of the Empire.

Chaurmetan Raynac.

* * *

* * *

There definitely was a difference between the undying peony that he planted in his palace and this grotesque orc head.

But the things they both wanted from me were the same.

‘My loyalty.’

Naturally, this situation was magnitudes easier to deal with than the crown prince.

“Here’s the living room.”

A crocodile-leather sofa.

Deer antler coat hangers.

A white cypress table.

We walked into this unnecessarily decorated fancy living room.

As I sat down, Vilcos Monzo received two cups of tea from his subordinate and handed one to me.

“Please drink. It’s a quite valuable tea from the South called ‘Perry-Mi’.”

“I’m fine.”

“Ah, do you perhaps not like tea? Should I get you a cool drink instead?”

Did he really not know, or was he acting like he didn’t know?

“I said I don’t need it.”

“……”

As I increased my volume a little, Vilcos Monzo shrugged and rather drank from the cup he was going to offer me.

“You act like I’m a lowlife who would poison a cup of tea…… but that’s not true. Heheng. See this. Isn’t it fine?”

“Ah, is that so? That’s quite the surprising revelation.”

“It seems you’re misunderstanding something here…… I do not want to become enemies with you. I only want to become good friends. If my wealth and your power combine…… Can you see it? I might be able to give your back wings.”

“Wealth?”

“Yes. I boast the most money in the southern part of the Radian Kingdom. I won’t compare badly to any nobles from the capital.”

As soon as money was mentioned, Vilcos went on to excitedly run his mouth.

However…

“Someone that I cannot disclose has promised me all the gold in the world…… Can you match that?”

“All the gold in the world?”

“Perhaps even more.”

“Puah! I don’t know who promised you that absurd story, but all the gold in the world? Unless it’s the crown prince of the Empire, it’s just foolish talk that no one would be able to follow up on. Heheng. But I only promise you things I am capable of doing.”

Ah, was that so?

The one who promised me all the gold in the world was actually the crown prince……

Who was the one talking foolishly now?

I could only regret not being able to tell him right then that it was the crown prince.

“Heheng. Then, we should officially start talking about my offer to you……”

“One more thing before that.”

“……What is it?”

“Is it an offer, or a threat?”

“Heheng…… A threat? That’s not true at all. I only made this offer in good faith, nothing else.”

The mood suddenly went cold

Stopping all of Ardell’s commerce by decreasing the prices as they pleased and draining the territory to force me to become the guardian magician of his city……

“……It wasn’t a threat?”

My anger flowed out and filled the air.

I looked directly into Vilcos Monzo’s eyes and asked him,

“Alright. Then if I decline your ‘offer’?”

He seemed to be quite proficient in ‘negotiations’ like this, and continued to talk without getting shocked.

“Heheng…… That would truly be unfortunate. Even if I wanted to increase our friendship and then increase the prices, if you decline my friendship, there’s nothing I can do. The one who flipped the deal would be you.”

“……”

“The products of Ardell would continue to stay low. Like shit.”

Like shit.

The produce that the citizens of my territory spent months cultivating with their blood and sweat……

Would be treated like shit.

“It’ll be good if you set it back to how it was while I’m being nice.”

“Heng? While you’re being nice? Who are you to command me, this Vilcos Monzo?”

“……”

I knew.

How many of these pig-like nobles did I see while I was at the academy?

I endured this for 6 years.

And I fought them head on.

The lesson I learnt from that was to not expect repentance from bastards like this.

I couldn’t give them any leeway.

If they saw an opening in me, they would immediately take off their masks and show their true pitch-black hearts.

I knew.

“Hey, you Ardell bumpkin who doesn’t even know anything.”

“……What?”

“Don’t look down on this deal. The one who should be groveling isn’t me, but you, you punk!”

This teaching never betrayed me.

Vilcos Monzo started shouting as if to repay all the humiliation he endured from me,

“You’re the winner of the Grand Festival? So what? I’m sick of nobles like you and your father acting like they’re the only nobles and being haughty. Am I not a noble for buying into nobility? Why do I need to listen to a brat like you?”

“……”

“Do you understand your position now? Start begging. Beg for me to save your territory.”

I screw my hands into fists.

At that, Vilcos Monzo stepped back a little.

“You… Aren’t you still a student? Isn’t there an oath you take before your break at the academy?”

“Yeah, I didn’t forget. First oath. Before we are magicians, we are students.”

“Heng, heheng. That means you’re a magician that can’t use magic. What’s that? A coffee without coffee grains?”

“Yeah, but I don’t need magic.”

Step step.

As I walked toward him, Vilcos was filled with terror and started pointing widely toward me.

“……Everyone come out, you bastards!”

At that, tens of guards who were hiding behind the door of the living room…

No. Thugs in the guise of guards filled the living room.

Looking at them, I could only smile.

“Second oath. You may use magic when you feel your life is threatened.”

“……What?”

“Oh my, just how many are here?”

One, two, three, four……

There really were too many.

All these people were armed with sharp spears and swords while threatening me.

This, really……

“I’m. So. Scared.”

——