TL/Editor: raei

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    [That fellow learned some strange skills.]

    [Surprising the general doesn''t stop him.]

    Maronius poured all his time into laying the foundations of ''magic''.

    Though imperial soldiers pointed fingers saying he was learning barbarians'' wicked sorcery.

    [Bah. Leave him be.]

    [But...]

    [Though it''s a power we can''t understand, isn''t it useful? Let''s let him do as he pleases for now.]

    General Lupus skillfully calmed his subordinate.

    This was deep in the jungle called the ''Green Hell''.

    Magic proved helpful in many ways in this den where poisonous insects, diseases, ghosts and monsters ran wild.

    And wasn''t it better to rely on Maronius''s magic than barbarian shaman treatment?

    If Lupus had been a principlist, he wouldn''t have left alone a soldier learning wicked sorcery against Heaven''s Faith doctrine.

    But like most Golden Empire people, he was a rationalist who actively embraced studies that brought benefit.

    Under General Lupus''s tacit approval, Maronius experimented with magic daily, creating new letters.

    He was desperate.

    Maronius had no martial talent. He could never succeed as a soldier anyway.

    It wouldn''t be strange to be kicked out of the unit immediately.

    But with magic it was different.

    [Demius! Mosquitoes swarm every night, can you do something?]

    [Hmm... I''ll get a monster that eats mosquitoes.]

    [This fellow has a high fever.]

    [I''ll ask the shaman about treatment.]

    [Demius. When will it rain next?]

    [Probably... in about 3 days.]

    Maronius proved his worth by helping in various ways.

    While other imperial units retreated, sick of the jungle.

    Lupus''s unit alone succeeded in exploring deeper than anyone and gathering much information.

    [Truly amazing! I''d believe you were born here. How did you manage such long missions!]

    [Just luck, General.]

    Lupus''s unit received generous rewards for their mission success.

    The unit celebrated their success, gorging on bread, wine, and ham.

    [Demius! You clever bastard!]

    [Honestly we could never have succeeded without you.]

    [Sorry for calling you weird! But maybe ease up on learning barbarian magic now!]

    Praise poured from his comrades.

    Maronius felt strange emotions.

    ''Am I... being acknowledged?''

    For Maronius who''d lived as a fallen noble''s son, just helping his brother-

    His comrades'' recognition felt so sweet.

    The unit felt like home.

    Lupus and the unit members felt like family.

    [Demius. Our jungle mission is over now.]

    [...Is that so?]

    Sitting around a blazing campfire, Lupus and Maronius shared heated wine.

    Maronius looked at Lupus''s face lit by firelight.

    A warm, kind, but strong-faced man.

    ...Though just a fallen noble, he felt much more like a real father than his own who''d only made him work.

    ''General Lupus acknowledged my talent.''

    [But we''re going to the northern front.]

    [The north...]

    [You must have heard rumors? The natives on that small northern island have rich red hair.]

    [...]

    [They''re fierce too - still rebelling even 50 years after our empire conquered them.]

    Maronius had never met the ''northern island natives''.

    But he could imagine how they looked.

    ''Liria.''

    Liria''s beautiful red hair seemed to float before his eyes.

    [No. You can''t possibly understand.]

    Maronius''s soul blazed with red light of hatred.

    It was incredibly intense for a soul dead nearly a thousand years.

    [I''m a failure. A loser who made only the worst mistakes and lost everything.]

    That was the archwizard''s self-assessment.

    It was ironic.

    While countless later wizards praised him daily saying they''d never seen a greater wizard than Maronius.

    He himself judged his life a ''failure''.

    Hearing of Maronius''s desertion, Lupus immediately dispatched cavalry to catch him.

    Maronius faced military trial.

    He was sentenced to death for deserting while using heretics'' evil sorcery.

    People threw stones calling him [Demius who made a deal with devils].

    [I didn''t want to live. I thought it fine to just die.]

    But someone saved Maronius right before execution.

    General Lupus.

    [...Why did you save me?]

    The half-ruined Maronius asked.

    Lupus spoke with controlled emotion.

    [If I said it''s because I thought of you as family... that would be cunning pretense.]

    [...]

    [I highly value your talent. Your skills are like nothing anyone else in the empire can copy. I don''t want your ''magic'' to vanish from the world.]

    Lupus said.

    What he wanted from Maronius was just one thing - his magical talent.

    ...Those words were brutally honest.

    [From now on you''ll serve the imperial army as my slave.]

    [...I''ll follow your orders, General.]

    Later it was revealed.

    Both denouncing Maronius and branding him ''devil contractor''.

    And leading negotiations to extract him.

    Were all General Lupus''s work.

    When Maronius tried to leave his grasp, he whipped without hesitation.

    He truly only cared about Maronius''s talent.

    ...Even if he had to make him his slave, he wouldn''t let him go.

    #

    Afterward, Maronius served beside General Lupus, making him one of the empire''s most famous soldiers.

    [Lupus was an ambitious man.]

    He knew the empire''s roots were rotting.

    Repeated conquests and victories.

    The empire used slaves captured from conquered lands to cultivate countless crops, and the capital overflowed with cheap food imported from colonies.

    Homeland farmers suddenly competing with colonial crops fell into debt, losing the price war.

    Farmers who couldn''t pay became slaves, their land sold cheap-

    The empire losing its middle class gradually became a deformed society with only rich and extremely poor.

    The problem was that middle class had been core to imperial defense.

    While slaves increased explosively, the middle class that should become soldiers rapidly collapsed.

    When holes appeared in defense power?

    They had to hire barbarian mercenaries from abroad.

    But how could they entrust imperial lands to foreigners?

    [Lupus argued strong reforms were needed.]

    But reform was impossible.

    The imperial emperor then was Sulla, called the ''Mad Emperor''.

    He had no will to reform, just living in luxury and pleasure daily.

    Lupus, having built fame through war, planned a coup in the capital.

    Lupus''s coup succeeded.

    He killed Sulla and took the emperor''s throne himself.

    Later, Lupus granted Demius the name [Maronius].

    He had become the emperor''s wizard.

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