Genius Swordsman of the Mage Empire Chapter 33 : Chapter 33

Chapter 33. Cold Reading (2)

Persona's inner world.

Her olive-green mana swirled everywhere.

Persona confird her magic was activating and looked down at the black-haired boy before her.

Soon, the past mories the boy had lived through would unfold before her eyes.

And at the end of it, the mage she served.

Information regarding ‘Tantalus’ would surely be there as well.

Therefore, before collapsing this intruder's ego, she needed to obtain that information.

-Vendetta Rank 13 Annihilation Officer, Tantalus.

When Persona herself had been thoroughly abandoned by everything and was dying.

He was the only benefactor who reached out and saved her when she was trapped in a pit of despair.

She couldn't forgive anyone touching him.

Not even the Main Houses, the powerful pillars supporting the Empire, absolutely not.

She looked at Enoch with a smile and said.

“Then first, shall we look at the past mories within your subconscious together?”

Persona deployed mana in her hand.

The trauma engraved in his subconscious, which must be Enoch's most painful mory.

She unfolded the traces of Enoch’s past residing in his mana.

‘First, to be certain, I need to shake his ntal barriers.’

Woong.

Persona’s mana danced once in the air, then rapidly expanded, filling the surroundings.

Simultaneously, Enoch’s dark blue mana shimred and blood near his body.

Before long, Enoch’s past mories were being projected and vividly replayed in Persona’s inner world.

[…My Lord. The Young Master, despite being thirteen this year, still hasn't manifested magic.]

A fortress late at night.

The top floor of Elsyde’s massive fortress.

At the end of the empty, vast stone corridor, young Enoch was blankly listening to the voice flowing from the Lord’s room.

[He is certainly trying, and shows excellent aptitude in magical theory. However, it seems the act of constructing magic circles using ambient mana is utterly impossible for him.]

Instantly, Enoch’s body, on which she was sitting astride, flinched and trembled.

Persona smiled faintly.

This was likely a mory residing in his subconscious, unknown even to this direct descendant himself.

It must be the shock of being forced to confront it again.

[It seems. The Young Master has no talent for magic.]

Silence lingered inside the Lord’s room for a while.

Then finally, the stern Lord’s voice replied curtly.

[It seems he inherited talent from his mother’s side, not mine.]

[Th-Then, surely? The talent the Young Master possesses is of the Eastern Lands… But if so, then no matter how hard he tried from the beginning, manifesting magic was impossible…?]

[This is the Magic Empire Atlas. Toas Tabileil.]

The Lord’s voice cut him off.

What a direct descendant of Elsyde, a Main House supporting the Empire, must possess is a reputation for competence. And the power enabling that is none other than magic.

A saying passed down like common sense in the Magic Empire.

At that irrefutable argunt, the mage called Toas was montarily lost for words. But the Lord added subsequently.

[However, even if Enoch has no talent for magic. He should be given a chance to prove himself.]

[…The Young Master hasn't yet shown himself to the public, so you an now, at thirteen, just before being officially announced as a non-mage, is the right ti.]

The Lord agreed with a short silence.

The voice of the man called Toas asked again.

[Then what should I prepare? If it concerns Young Master Enoch, of all people, secrecy must be maintained from the public. It cannot be entrusted to others….]

[To prove his skill, he will undergo an unofficial duel.]

[An unofficial duel. Have you decided on an opponent?]

[To prove whether Enoch’s talent is competent enough for even the family’s other mages to acknowledge, I have arranged an unofficial duel with an elite mage belonging to the 「Imperial Guard」. A suitable location is needed.]

[What? A duel with the Imperial Guard, but Young Master Enoch is still only thirteen……!]

The Imperial Guard was one of the elite groups possessing combat skills worthy of being called the pinnacle of the Empire. Yet, arranging a duel between one of them and a thirteen-year-old boy?

But the rebuttal Toas instinctively shouted stopped abruptly mid-sentence.

[…I overstepped my bounds. I will prepare the location.]

The voice in the mory cut off there.

Before long, young Enoch was walking away from the Lord’s office, head bowed low.

─His small hands were bleeding from popped blisters, traces of nurous sword practices.

That wasn't all.

Also, the wounds on his forearms, torn from forcibly manipulating his own mana to try and manifest magic.

Swish.

Feeling all that pain, Enoch rely calmly re-wrapped the wounds with bandages hardened by his own blood.

Thus, young Enoch walked into the darkness of the fortress, returning to his empty room.

The mory of the battered young Enoch at thirteen ended there.

“…You lived fiercely.”

Persona said so, lightly stroking the head of Enoch, on whom she sat astride.

The boy didn't react particularly.

He was probably shaken by seeing a past mory he must have buried deep.

“The shock must have been quite significant? Seems I dredged up a worse mory than I thought.”

Her tone was closer to mockery than sympathy.

But it didn't matter either way.

Once his ego was rewritten, this boy would forget even such painful mories.

Forever.

Persona manipulated the intricate magic circle with a leisurely attitude.

‘Well, his mind certainly seems to be shaken.’

Woong.

This wasn't the information she wanted. She needed to read the more recent mories residing in Enoch's mana.

‘The mory just now said it was when he was ‘thirteen years old’.’

Using that point as a reference, adjusting the tiline of the mories was no longer difficult.

‘Before coming here on this mission, he must have received information about Vendetta and Lord Tantalus from the family.’

What she needed, ultimately, was ‘how much the Elsyde family knew about Tantalus’. Once she found that out, she would have no further business with this boy’s mories.

“…Hm?”

But montarily, a questioning expression appeared on Persona’s face as she manipulated the magic circle.

Her fingertips, adjusting the tiline of the mories recorded in Enoch’s mana, trembled slightly.

‘Sothing’s a bit strange?’

Enoch’s current age, on the verge of disownnt, was seventeen.

And what she had confird earlier was Enoch at thirteen.

It was only a difference of about 4 years, yet for so reason, the flow of his mana felt now was completely different from that of his thirteen-year-old self.

No. To be precise, rather than different, the grain was the sa, but sohow the density had beco extrely high……

‘What is this? Why can’t I read only the recent mana mories?’

Persona glanced down at Enoch.

‘It’s as if… sothing is ‘protecting’ this kid’s inner world…’

Thinking that far, she briefly shook her head.

No. That was ridiculous.

Soone protecting an inner world.

She had entered and exited the inner worlds of countless high-ranking mages until now, but such a case had never existed.

‘Then, what trick could this boy have used?’

Never before had her Unique Magic reacted this way to a target.

‘I don’t know the reason, but things have gotten a bit troubleso.’

Persona pondered for a mont, then decided it wasn’t a big deal.

‘In this case, I’ll have to enter his inner world directly, rewrite his ego anew as my servant, and then command him to confess with his own mouth.’

Even after rewriting the ego, tampering with the mind without causing loss of language ability was quite complex.

So she preferred not to do it if possible…

But for reasons unknown, since she couldn't read Enoch's recent mories, there was no other way.

Woong.

Persona slowly closed her eyes and focused her mind.

Creating a passage connecting her mind with mana, she began to enter Enoch’s inner world.

As always. She composed her mind, recalling the scenery of another's inner self she would soon behold.

─People’s inner worlds are surprisingly similar to the real world.

All the emotions a person experienced throughout their life.

All those mories beco grass, trees, flowers, birds chirping, and butterflies fluttering their wings.

The inner worlds of others are constructed that way.

The existing self is ultimately built upon the accumulation of past experiences that person has lived through.

All the emotions and mories felt while living like that reside within, manifesting as natural elents.

Naturally, this boy’s would be the sa.

If so, changing it wouldn't be difficult either. It was sothing she had done countless tis before.

‘What kind of inner world does he have. Let’s see?’

She synchronized her senses with Enoch.

Swish.

Like a water droplet seeping into the ground.

Persona’s consciousness lted into Enoch’s inner self.

Finally judging that she had entered his inner world, she slowly opened her eyes.

‘Alright, what should I tamper with first in this inner world…?’

And the mont Persona fully opened her eyes.

She was overwheld by the sight unfolding before her.

─An infinite world was right before her.

It was dinsions apart from her own inner world, which maintained its form by patching mana together.

A perfectly complete, jet-black infinite world.

Overwheld by the world reflected in her pupils, a small gasp unconsciously escaped her lips.

“……Ah.”

The ground she stepped on was like a clear, clean water surface, reflecting her own standing figure translucently.

In the clear, bright darkness, an endless horizon stretched far away, eting the jet-black sky.

And looking up incidentally at the night sky,

Stars sparkled as if about to pour down.

Persona simply watched, lost for words.

Montarily forgetting even her purpose, Persona’s gaze was captivated by the beautiful world for a short while. She swore she had never seen such a clear, whole, and flawless inner image before.

And simultaneously, she knew instinctively.

‘…An inner world my power absolutely cannot handle.’

It was a world utterly incomparable to the clumsy inner world she had created.

‘There has never been a case where soone’s inner world manifested [like this] before.’

Not only its completeness, but even the way this inner world was manifested was sothing she had seen for the first ti since manifesting her Unique Magic. She rubbed her goosebump-covered forearm once.

‘Even all bodily senses are as clear as reality.’

For such an inner world to exist.

Persona tried hard to calm her thoughts. But her overwheld mind rely replayed the harsh reality.

‘This, can I even dare to tamper with it?’

She had manifested Unique Magic and seen the inner worlds of countless people. But she had never seen such an absurd inner world.

She had no choice but to admit it.

No matter how she looked at it, manipulating Enoch’s inner world here was impossible, let alone understanding it.

It was clearly an unconventional inner world, on a completely different dinsion from the Unique Magic she used.

However.

No matter how overwheld she was by this inner world itself, she couldn't stop here.

Persona clenched her fist, steeling her resolve.

‘No, whether it’s possible or not doesn't matter. For Lord Tantalus, I must…!’

Just as she began gathering her mana.

─Fwoosh!

An eerie sound instantly burned through the space.

A single sword was swung.

The blade, engulfed in crimson flas, cleanly severed her neck in one go.

“…Huh?”

Persona’s severed, flying mouth montarily uttered a puzzled sound. She blankly stared at the owner of the sword that had cut her neck.

Wearing a hood pulled down deep enough to cover his eyes,

An unidentified swordsman with a flowing grey beard.

He stood looking down upon her loftily, his sword plunged into the ground.

And unbelievably.

On his sword, mana roared and surged, blazing in the form of flas.

? 「Empire's Last Sword Saint」

Pale letters floated above the swordsman’s head. Seeing them, Persona’s pupils widened further in shock.

“You are……!”

Persona muttered absently, not even noticing herself regenerating like a shadow before long.

She definitely knew the identity of that man.

“Certainly from the past…… But, why in this inner world……?”

However, before Persona could say anything more, from beyond the endlessly stretching space of the inner world, a familiar boy’s voice was heard.

“It works?”

The boy who had been subdued by her just monts ago.

It was Enoch Elsyde.

The black-haired boy with a faint smile, all traces of his earlier agitation from seeing the mory gone.

The mont she saw him, Persona realized the words she had spoken to him just monts before.

─ [Surprisingly, you’re not trying to resist?]

Looking back, there had been a sense of unease from the start.

Enoch's powerlessness, being subdued too easily without seemingly putting up a proper fight. And his appearance, as if in deep shock from seeing the past mory.

Persona finally realized that all of it had been thoroughly intentional.

“……Was it all, an act?”

She glared at Enoch.

He had deliberately pretended to be shaken to lure her into his inner world.

Presumably, he must have realized this place was more advantageous to him.

“Judging by what you said earlier, you definitely seem to know sothing.”

Instead of answering, Enoch returned Persona’s own words back to her.

“Seems like we have an environnt to talk now too.”

─Splash.

Upon the world where the jet-black horizon spread clearly.

Wherever his moving feet touched the ground, white circular ripples spread out.

Thus, Enoch walked out onto his own inner world, stopped nonchalantly behind the Sword Saint, and said.

“The Magical Beastification experint you guys are conducting. Tell everything.”

Enoch’s dark blue eyes, staring at Persona, shone clearly in the darkness. Persona, unable to hide her dumbfounded expression, asked.

“You, what on earth…”

“Not answering?”

The Empire's Last Sword Saint quietly raised his fiercely burning sword.

Enoch pointed at him with a finger from the side.

And to Persona, who flinched with a bewildered expression, he said as if it were obvious.

“Well then… first, you need to learn where this place is, right?”

A long ti since the possession.

The Sword Saint who had given Enoch hell.

As usual, it was ti for his one-sided slaughter to begin.