Chapter 52: Thousand-Faced Lantern Reaper—A Talent of Immense Skill

Chapter 52: Thousand-Faced Lantern Reaper—A Talent of Immense Skill

Louis took a piece of magic bread from his pocket, broke it apart, and sprinkled the crumbs into the box.

For a moment, it rained bread inside the box.

After the bread rain hit the ground, the pieces gradually grew larger and, under Louis’s magic, turned into beautiful bread mushrooms.

The Dark Wizards seemed to have been hungry for some time. Under the stunned gaze of the group of Agents, the Dark Wizards cried out and scrambled frantically. Louis chuckled and manipulated the magical puppets to block the wizards’ path, preventing them from eating.

The Agents thought the puppets were coming for them. They grabbed their wands as if facing a great enemy, but the puppets simply walked right over them, trampling the dozen or so Agents to the ground.

In contrast, the twelve Dark Wizards seemed somewhat capable. Not only did they block the iron feet of the puppets, but they also got into a chaotic brawl with them. On average, each Dark Wizard could handle two or three puppets, plus a bunch of smaller dolls.

This slightly surprised Louis. According to what Yingling had said earlier, Harold’s magical puppets required over a dozen adult Wizards working together just to barely subdue them. Even if they were elite Wizards like Yingling and Ocris, it took two of them joining forces to deal with one puppet.

It seemed that the two underachievers, Ocris and Yingling, were completely helpless against these carpenters and blacksmiths inside the box.

He really should find time to properly make up for their lessons.

“Why are all the somewhat capable people in this world craftsmen?”

[Sir, that’s indeed the case, ahem.] Stuart flatteringly smiled: [To be honest, I’m actually a craftsman too. You…]

Louis glanced at Stuart and ignored him.

“I am a Wizard.”

Upon hearing the Boss’s words, Stuart’s smile stiffened.

“How is Mr. Harold doing?”

[He’s already been sent in, sir, and verified by the Black Prison. The bounty is quite astonishing…] Stuart said: [Also, there’s another matter I need to discuss with you, concerning our prison warden, Duke ‘Polst’.]

Stuart showed an awkward smile: [He has been impersonating you, but after Harold got in, he seems a bit unwilling to continue…]

“Oh?”

“That’s right, sir. He has been impersonating you all along.”

Whenever Stuart brought back prisoners, no one dared to question it, as Stuart held a fairly high position.

No one ever asked about such things, because that’s what a Warden does. Moreover, they all had considerable personal strength and plenty of subordinates, informants, and bounty hunters under their command. So, it was perfectly normal for Wardens to frequently bring back many escapees. Bringing prisoners back was just routine.

Lately, Stuart’s performance had been exceptionally good, which inevitably caught his superior’s attention.

This superior was very famous, loved taking credit for achievements, but was also lazy and idle. His greatest daily pleasures were drinking coffee, reading newspapers, and writing Scripts. His biggest annoyance was trouble.

Recently, after this person noticed Stuart’s performance seemed a bit too good, he got an idea and talked to Stuart.

This person was the ‘Thousand-Faced Lantern Reaper’ Polst. He was currently the Warden of the Hexagon Magic Prison. Rumor had it he had even crossed paths with the Dark Lord—Stuart was even there at the time to take pictures.

The Dark Lord and Stuart both struck a few poses.

The Dark Lord was very satisfied with Polst—because he was an incredibly skilled Scriptwriter and actor.

What was even more amazing was that Mr. Polst could also work as a fight choreographer.

He was as famous as the great Director Trif (Head of the Special Mysterious Events Handling Office).

The reason Polst approached Stuart was simple—his term as a senator in the Magic Council was about to end, and in the new round of elections, his opponent was highly competitive.

He needed new prestige, needed to become more famous, so he needed his old friend’s help.

Therefore, before big catches like Harold were apprehended, Polst thought this arrangement was quite nice—sit in his office, read the newspaper, drink coffee, and good reputation would just come to him.

It couldn’t help but remind him of that leisurely and pleasant experience when the Dark Lord first approached him—during that time, Polst was invincible.

Facing those who came to challenge his ranking, Polst didn’t even need to lift a finger. Because the Dark Lord would handle the trouble for him. And the only one who could defeat the Dark Lord was Polst himself.

Later on, no one even dared to face Polst—except for the Dark Lord.

Every match made the newspapers.

Now, the Dark Lord was gone. The Lantern Bearer who once illuminated the darkness was almost forgotten. Many people began to think Polst was simply a fraud without real power. Some even believed he was no longer fit to oversee the Hexagon Magic Prison.

Even less fit to be a senator.

Every night, Polst would sadly hold the ‘Reaper’s Lantern’ the Dark Lord had left for him, feeling heartbroken.

His old friend Stuart’s recent activity gave Polst a glimmer of hope, and Stuart was naturally willing to look out for his old buddy and former ‘colleague’.

So, they hit it off immediately.

Who would have thought Harold would get caught?

Back then, Polst had even gleefully written several articles—when the time came to campaign for senator, he’d give this story to some newspaper, leak it out, and the deed would be done.

Who says Polst isn’t capable?

Who says I just drink coffee and read newspapers in the office all day?

Every night before bed, I secretly put my underwear on the outside and silently do good deeds.

And everything I do is for the sake of not becoming famous—even though I end up in the papers.

When the time comes, the voters will get excited, and the senate seat will be secure.

Seemed Stuart’s informants were quite diligent, sending people in every week. And the targets seemed to be getting more and more significant…

Now Harold had been caught.

Sitting at home, disaster falls from the sky.

Polst’s face immediately changed. He could handle other people, after all, the Reaper’s Lantern could deal with them, and there were very few in the world who dared to challenge the Thousand-Faced Reaper.

But there were some the Reaper’s Lantern couldn’t handle. And a few of those people particularly loved challenging the Reaper.

Harold was one of them. The Magician couldn’t be contained at all, loved roaming around the Hexagon Magic Prison, and especially enjoyed actively seeking out the Reaper to play those ‘life-and-death limit’ games.

Whenever Harold came looking, Polst, amidst his inner frantic complaints, was forced to put on a spectacular show.

During Harold’s last escape, Polst’s acting skills could be said to have reached their peak—he successfully didn’t catch the fleeing Harold.

Now, Harold finally left, and you send him back?

You want me to act again?

You want him to come find me for fun?

I’m almost out of Scripts!

Therefore, just half an hour ago, Polst had a chat with Stuart—he didn’t want to be famous anymore. Otherwise, he absolutely would not approve Harold’s bounty!

“Truly a rare talent.” After hearing about those Scripts from Stuart, Louis couldn’t help but nod in admiration.

[Sir, what should we do about this?] Stuart cautiously asked.

“Oh.” Louis said while making the Agents and Wizards inside the box dance. “Later, I’ll leave a Mind Imprint on Harold and the Agents. Then, I’ll have the Agents write a ‘Faceless One Investigation Report’ and submit it to the Ministry of Magic.”

[Sir, you are really wicked (Louis turned to look at him)… ahem, sir, I mean, it’s a good thing to hone Warden Polst’s writing and acting skills. By the way, a while ago, he wrote quite a few Scripts in order to impersonate the Faceless One—I even helped him take a lot of pictures!]

“Perfect. Give me all the materials Polst gave you for leaking to the press. I’ll give them to the Agents along with the rest, so they can find a major newspaper.”

[…]

Seeing Stuart still standing there dumbfounded, Louis asked with some confusion, “Well?”

[Ahem, sir, I think we might have missed a few things—let’s leak the story two weeks later. I’ll first get Harold’s bounty over here.]

“Good.” Louis nodded. After a pause, he curiously asked, “How much money do I have now?”

The Magician’s Box was a Secret Realm. With enough Crystal Array, Wizards could create a very large space inside.

With enough money, you could practically build a small kingdom in there.

No problem fitting an entire Manor, at least.

Louis planned to plant some chives. He wanted to eat chive dumplings. He happened to have some ‘craftsmen’ under his command—what did they call themselves? Farmers, fishermen, carpenters, stonemasons, blacksmiths, hunters who could raise dragons…

When he first heard these professions, Louis became interested. They surely knew how to farm and could probably build houses and castles.

Seemed Harold originally intended to raise dragons inside, but probably lacked the funds to set up a large Crystal Array in the Secret Realm capable of maintaining the Mana elements for a Dragon District, so it was never completed.

Now that Louis had sold Harold, the money was probably enough.

Louis also planned to get a few dragons to play with later.

Best to get something like a giant dragon. Those things were much bigger than Fire Dragons and could even talk. Furnish it with some treasure—after he transformed, he could sleep in there for fun too.