Gluttony Demon King with the Swampman ~A Man with No Magic Power Who Dreamed of Magic, Wielding Knowledge from His Past Life Through Steady Research and Hard Work to Become the Most Vicious Final Boss~ - Chapter 1.1: The Madman Yearns for Magic (1)

Chapter 1.1: The Madman Yearns for Magic (1)

The female magician Zaria felt confused.

Under the night darkness, her prized long hair, mixed with rose color and black, was blown by the rough wind.

In front of her, a huge troll stirred up a gust of wind from magic. But the thing that confused Zaria the most was not that.

First of all, it was the white-haired boy who stood in front of her as if to protect Zaria.

He was probably two or three years younger than her.

He looked skinny and unreliable, and his height was not that great. There was no way to expect anything from his physical strength. And above all—

—She had heard that he had no magic power.

The failure of the Moskaneyra family.

The second son Haro had no magic power.

So when the boy Haro next spun those words, Zaria widened her eyes.

“—Summoning Water Call”
“Huh? Magic…!?”

That was the name of a very common basic magic.

And right after that, what unfolded in front of the boy was a huge magic circle.

Black ink-like liquid drew the magic circle in the air, swelled up with great magic power, and then the magic circle changed shape further.

The black ink swirled, formed a spear—and

pierced the troll’s throat, silencing the roaring giant body.

The troll collapsed with just one strike.

“What… what the heck is going on…?”

What was that magic circle?

Zaria did not know such an ominous thing.

In the first place, Summoning Water Call was the basics of water magic—

A technique to pass magic power through water, shape it, and prepare the foundation for magic. She had never heard of it piercing and killing a troll.

Zaria stared in stunned amazement at the miracle shown by the boy who was supposed to have no magic power, and—

recalled the events up to now.

*

The magician sisters Zaria and Noiche, known in the world.

The reason the two of them went out of their way to cross three mountains and come to a remote rural town was because a certain magic thesis caught their eye.

It was quite a maniacal thing called “The Influence of the Morphological Characteristics of Magic Power on the Land,” apparently written by the heir son of a small baron’s family called Moskaneyra.

The Moskaneyra family was a mediocre local noble family, but as a lineage of magicians, it had a deep history.

So they thought there might be something interesting besides what was written in the thesis, and they headed to the territory on their own feet.

However, as a result, this was a wasted trip.

“Sigh, wasn’t that guy a total flop? Did that eldest son really write a thesis like that?”

In one room of the inn, only the two of them were here, exhausted and chatting idly.

One of them was the red one of the magician sisters—

Zaria sat on the bed and leaned her shoulder on her twin’s half.

“The basics aren’t even there. Probably a ghostwriter.”

The other one was the blue one—

Her glossy black hair mixed with strands of indigo had just been groomed by her other half until a moment ago, and her name was Noiche.

While staring blankly at the book in her hand, Noiche responded to Zaria’s words in a flat tone without inflection.

The reception at the Moskaneyra family was disappointing.

The eldest son, who was supposed to be the author of the thesis, was a mediocre talent who “didn’t even have the basics,” as Noiche said.

No matter what they asked, all that came out was what was written in the thesis, and if they dug a little deeper, he would hurriedly give an off-base evasion.

As Noiche said, there might be a proxy, or perhaps he stole someone else’s research achievement… Either way, it was something local nobles often did.

“Ah, geez, even thinking back now, that guy was so cocky… Those jerks were all over our Noiche!”

“Nothing happened.”

“But it did! I hate it! Or rather, Noiche, weren’t you talked to about an engagement?”

“I was.”

“Ugh—! What a jerk! Me too! To begin with, their title doesn’t match ours, those clueless country nobles.”

Noiche let out a small laugh and hugged the irritated Zaria, who was kicking her feet pat-pat, tightly.

“Zaria, it’s late. Let’s go to the woods.”

“Mm… Oh, right.”

—When they visited the Moskaneyra family during the day, they were stopped by the lord and the eldest son when they tried to peek into the woods behind the mansion.

The people themselves insisted it was “a woods for hunting,” but the sisters doubted that.

Even if the one doing magic research was not that eldest son, they thought there might be a substitute researcher kept somewhere.

So the two decided to sneak in.

They left the inn, walked through the quiet night town, passed the mansion, and soon reached the target woods.

The ground under their feet, lit by the lantern’s light, was trampled down, and they could walk more comfortably than expected.

It was in such woods that the sisters met the boy.

A small tower with such dim light that their lantern might be more reliable if things went wrong.

In the dark yard in front of it, on a stump, the white-haired boy sat still.

“Huh? A kid younger than the eldest son…!?”

“I thought it’d be more like an old man.”

Since it handled such a maniacal research theme, they thought a splendid elderly person would appear, but the one they met was a quiet-looking boy.

At the sisters’ extremely rude words, the boy slowly turned around and tilted his head.

“…Who?”

A hoarse, mumbled voice.

The sisters thought the small voice was not due to lack of spirit, but rather because he was not used to using his vocal cords.

Was this really the boy? It was suspicious.

But the boy had what looked like a black slime familiar on his lap, so at least it was clear he was someone connected to magic.