How to Live as a Mage in the Murim World

Chapter 4 – Episode 1: Magic (3)

The magic Laurent demonstrated wasn’t limited to destructive spells like hurling fiery spheres. Magic came in varieties, and among its many types were practical spells that could be used in everyday life.

‘Come to think of it, that happened before.’

When Laurent was taking Allen to the Magic Tower, there was a time when the hired carriage was so creaky that Allen couldn’t sleep at all. It was a trivial incident that happened in a dream, but for some reason, Zhuge Hyeonmong could recall it vividly.

‘Laurent did it this way.’

When Zhuge Hyeonmong concentrated and projected his mana toward the source of the noise, various information flowed back through the magic.

Mana possessed the property of carrying information.

Like touch or sight.

Just as humans perceive the world through their senses, mages perceive the world through mana.

Through this transmitted information, Zhuge Hyeonmong understood the carriage’s condition

‘The boards have warped with age, and the wheel axle is worn down.’

There was one way to fix it.

As the escort just mentioned, applying oil would help the axle turn smoothly.

Or alternatively.

‘Transform.’

He could transform mana into something with properties similar to oil and infuse it into the carriage’s axle.

“Hm?”

The escort driving the carriage tilted his head.

“What’s wrong?”

“No, doesn’t the sound seem to have lessened a bit?”

“Now that you mention it? How strange. Did it fix itself?”

As the grating creaking subsided, Zhuge Hyeonmong picked up the book again with a satisfied expression. His satisfaction wasn’t just from fixing the carriage’s creaking. While performing this process, he had gained insights into how to repair the book.

Zhuge Hyeonmong projected his mana into the book he was holding, just as he had done moments ago.

He then filtered out unnecessary information and created a net to capture only the information and categorize each piece he needed.

‘This relates to the book’s material quality, and this is about the binding string. And this…’

Among the incoming information, Zhuge Hyeonmong caught something.

Things that were wriggling as if alive, continuously transmitting information.

Zhuge Hyeonmong smiled.

If there was anything alive in a book, there could only be one thing, right?

‘Found it.’

Flip!

Opening the book, Zhuge Hyeonmong easily discovered a small worm squirming between the pages.

A light flick with concentrated mana was enough to remove it.

‘Good, next…’

While he could remove all the bookworms hidden between the pages this way, that wasn’t the only problem. Due to improper care, the old book had absorbed quite a bit of moisture, and book dust stuck firmly to it as a result.

Both were issues Zhuge Hyeonmong could handle.

He transformed his mana to carry heat, wrapped it around his hand, and lightly swept it over the surface of the book. The damp old book dried as if ironed.

Then, he sent a light gust of wind to blow away the book dust cleanly.

‘Easier than I thought.’

In his dream, Laurent had said that changing the properties of mana was quite difficult and depended on one’s aptitude, so he advised against trying it recklessly. However, Zhuge Hyeonmong felt like he could do it, and when he tried, it wasn’t as difficult as he had been warned.

His thoughts abruptly halted.

‘Ah, I didn’t need to go this far.’

While removing bookworms could be done manually, drying the old book with heat was near impossible without magic.

People of the Central Plains despise sorcery (邪術). And his magic could easily be seen as such.

There’s a saying from the old sages, ‘A gentleman doesn’t adjust his shoes in a melon field.’

Meaning there was no need to draw attention unnecessarily.

‘I should be careful.’

Reflecting on this, Zhuge Hyeonmong adjusted his posture to lie comfortably and pondered. Still, a smile lingered on his face without him realizing it.

‘Still, that was fun.’

With that brief reflection as his last thought, Zhuge Hyeonmong opened the book.

It seemed this escort journey would be quite enjoyable and comfortable.

* * *

“We’ve arrived! This is Yulang County!”

The escort journey, which wasn’t long to begin with, ended quickly while he was focused on the book.

Though it wasn’t a particularly dangerous journey, exclamations of joy erupted here and there at reaching their destination.

Stepping down from the cart, he could see Yulang County faintly in the distance. It was a place he had visited many times during his previous escort duties.

Zhuge Hyeonmong gathered his belongings and approached Seo Chung to hand over the book.

“I’ve finished reading the book.”

“Did you enjoy the book?”

“Yes.”

Having observed Zhuge Hyeonmong reading in the carriage, Seo Chung chuckled.

‘Asked him to take care of the book, and yet…’

He hadn’t expected much in the first place. He had entrusted the book to Zhuge Hyeonmong partly to lighten the load.

When Seo Chung received the book and habitually flipped through it, his eyebrows twitched.

‘Hm?’

This… the condition was too good.

The page turned crisply as if newly made. Upon a brief inspection, it was smooth without a speck of dust, and no trace of bookworms could be found, not even crushed remains.

Isn’t this practically the condition of a new book?

“Hey, you! How did you do this?”

When Seo Chung pointed at the book, Zhuge Hyeonmong immediately understood his meaning.

Even he thought the condition was too good.

“Ah…”

Of course, he couldn’t say it was because he used magic.

Zhuge Hyeonmong thought about what to say, then realizing there was no need for excuses, answered casually.

“It’s a secret technique of my family.”

“Of the Zhuge Family?!”

“No, my family.”

“Ah.”

Seo Chung unconsciously accepted this explanation.

Even a small fish has its worth, as they say.

Even if it wasn’t the main branch of the Zhuge Family, it wasn’t strange for them to have some secret techniques.

“Well then.”

Zhuge Hyeonmong gave a light bow and turned away.

Seo Chung blankly watched his retreating figure.

* * *

Yulang County wasn’t as crowded as Chengdu, but it was quite prosperous.

The merchants dispersed in various directions, and the escorts of the Great Dragon Escort Agency began to transport their goods. Larger agencies would utilized branch offices to reorganize and distribute the goods, but the Great Dragon Escort Agency was somewhat lacking in that aspect.

“Advisor Zhuge! Come here.”

When Im Chung called with that burdensome title, Zhuge Hyeonmong got up and followed.

There wasn’t any particular problem. Im Chung seemed to consider Zhuge Hyeonmong the future of the Great Dragon Escort Agency and was even thinking of assigning him important responsibilities later on.

‘Though I have no such intentions.’

With the path of magic open to him, he had no intention of staying at the escort agency forever. And above all, Im Jun-gyu, who would become the next head of the agency was already looking at him with animosity.

“Hey, Zhegil.”

“It’s Zhuge.”

“Zhegil, step aside.”

Zhuge Hyeonmong looked down at Im Jun-gyu.

“…”

He could clearly see his receding hairline.

Sensing his gaze, Im Jun-gyu bristled.

“Why don’t you lower your gaze?”

“Aren’t I already looking down?”

Zhuge Hyeonmong was taller than Im Jun-gyu.

Crunch-

Im Jun-gyu unconsciously ground his teeth. There wasn’t anything wrong with his words, but it somehow made his blood boil!

Regardless of their interaction, Im Chung and the head of the Yang Family Merchant Guild were exchanging pleasantries.

“Haha, look at those two. They’re the pair who will lead our Great Dragon Escort Agency in the future. Isn’t it a fine sight?”

‘It doesn’t look fine at all.’

Anyone could see that they were not on good terms. Yang So-pyeong, the head of Yang Family Merchant Guild, thought this but he was a merchant.

“Indeed, they are. You must be very reassured, Chief Im.”

“Haha, indeed!”

“By the way, Chief Im. Did you encounter any trouble on your way?”

“Trouble?”

Im Chung tilted his head in confusion.

“Yes. The security in this area has deteriorated lately.”

Im Chung’s smile faded.

Nothing was more unsettling to an escort agency than news of compromised security.

“You know what happened recently with the Huang and Geum Family Merchant Guilds…” Zhuge Hyeonmong recalled the recent incident.

The two merchant guilds, who were sworn enemies, had fought so fiercely that they even hired bandits to attack each other, ultimately leading to both of their downfalls.

And shortly after, new rumors spread.

“As it turned out, the bandits were all in cahoots from the start.”

“…Such a thing.”

They had assumed the merchants had hired bandits to fight amongst themselves. But it was all a scheme orchestrated by the bandits from behind. They pretends all sorts of conflict while slowly siphoning money from both sides. Once they had sucked both families dry, they reunited as if nothing had happened.

“Has the local government taken any action?”

“There have been attempts, but the bandits vanish without a trace whenever the soldiers approach.”

“Hmm.”

They could mobilize an army if they really wanted to. However, it required authorization from the central government and entailed a complex process to avoid misunderstandings. Moreover, the county magistrate wasn’t particularly interested in suppressing bandits to begin with.

“This… has become troublesome.”

“I hear the two bandit leaders possess considerable martial skills. Please be careful.”

“Don’t worry. Master Yang! I, Im Jun-gyu, will defeat them with the sword I learned from Qingcheng Sect!”

Im Jun-gyu declared boldly while thumping his chest.

‘I don’t think that will work.’

Im Jun-gyu had indeed learned martial arts from Qingcheng Sect.

While not a First-rate, his skills were good enough to aspire to that level, so he had some martial talent. However, his short limbs were ill-suited for swordsmanship.

“Why are you looking at me like that?”

“I didn’t say anything.”

* * *

When the work was finished, the agency members dispersed in small groups. Some went to rest early, while many others went out for a drink.

Zhuge Hyeonmong also turned his steps toward his lodgings.

Though he wasn’t particularly tired, he wanted to research magic.

‘I want to get back quickly and practice without worrying about others’ eyes.’

As Zhuge Hyeonmong was having these happy thoughts, someone called out to him.

“Hey, you!”