Chapter 81
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 081
Chapter Title: Hermit's Hideout #7
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I vented furiously to Captain Ezekiel.
“Captain! That bastard Wiseman! He's a complete piece of shit!”
He sent assassins after us! He insulted His Imperial Majesty the Emperor!
He was definitely evading taxes too.
At that moment, Wiseman twitched—his lips curling up.
“Ezekiel Captain, your timing was impeccable, but you made a mistake. No mere human can catch lightning!”
Catch lightning?
What the hell did that mean? Just then, Wiseman smoothly raised his hand.
As the pouring rain chilled my body to the bone, Hammer shouted.
“Danger—.”
Flash—.
Light burst first—.
Boom—
—Then thunder exploded.
When I came to, Hammer was charred black.
“...Aaaah!!!? Hammeeer...!!!”
He looked like he'd been struck by actual lightning.
I rushed over in a panic and yanked off his helmet, but it was too late.
Hammer's scorched skull went rolling across the ground with a clatter.
He'd been reduced to bare bones by the powerful lightning spell—.
“Kyaaah!!!”
I could only scream, clutching my cheeks like a pheasant shot full of holes.
Tears or rain—who knew?—streamed down my face.
Boom—!
Crackle—!
Even then, lightning arced wildly from Wiseman's fingertips, mercilessly piercing the soldiers.
A mad wizard.
Some thieves fired crossbows with dull thunks—but—.
Humm, humm—.
The crossbow bolts stopped dead just before touching Wiseman, as if blocked by an invisible wall.
Fuck, that's totally cheating!?
That's when Hermit raised her staff and unleashed a magical arrow.
Whoosh—.
He'd blocked arrows with his transparent barrier before, but this time Pilgrim Wiseman rolled aside to dodge Hermit's arcane arrow.
Splash—!
Mud splattered across Wiseman Pilgrim's face, twisting it into a goblinish snarl.
“You insolent, selfish bitch! After I took in an orphan like you, gave you a name, fed you well, and assigned you the finest teachers—have you forgotten that grace!?”
“All so you could ascend me as your idol!”
Grit—.
Hermit snarled in fury.
“If I ascend as an idol, I won't be me anymore! 'Me' as a continuous self would vanish—it's basically killing the current me!”
Memory? Continuity?
The complicated words made my head spin.
Wiseman flew into an even greater rage.
“What value do you have besides that? Outside of your magical talent, what's the point of you?”
“Wha... .”
Hermit faltered badly.
Seizing the momentum, Wiseman bellowed.
“You think they came to save you? No, they're only after your magical talent too. Alicia, you have no value beyond magic!”
Only Hermit could stand against Wiseman now.
So I opened my mouth to back her up.
“Hermit! Don't listen to that crap! You've got talents beyond magic!”
“...Really? Like what?”
“Honestly, no idea, fuck! We'll find something if we look!”
“...Hey!!!!”
“But still, you're the only girl I can chat with this easily. And up close, you're kinda cute.... Hehehe....”
Scratch—.
I rubbed my nose, feeling a bit embarrassed.
Even in this mess, my face burned.
Wiseman sighed heavily.
“...This farce ends here, Alicia. Still clinging to life to the bitter end? That's why I tried to eliminate anything that might leave regrets—.”
Whoooosh—.
A fierce wind howled.
“Your talent shone, but there's no curing the folly of your lowly birth.”
The rain clouds spread across the sky, the mansion engulfed in a massive storm as lightning struck from all sides.
In the chaos, Felix said to Captain Ezekiel.
“Captain! Let's retreat for now!”
With Hammer dead and Nimbul badly hurt.
We had no choice but to run.
How could magic be so utterly unfair?
“Newbie! Gimme the necklace!”
Hermit thrust her arm out toward me.
Eyeing the wagon-wheel necklace in my hand?
“To beat that guy head-on is impossible!”
“You've got a plan?”
I handed the necklace to Hermit.
Anything—a straw to grasp at.
“O Goddess of the Anvil!”
Hermit chanted the spell.
The exact same one she'd used to infuse the item with the anvil stone.
“With this anvil-stone necklace, I'll reinforce my magic circuits!”
That possible?
If the necklace was made of anvil stone, maybe not impossible.
But Wiseman freaked out.
“Alicia! That's not how you use that necklace!”
“Please! Please work!”
“Reinforcing yourself as a mage? I've never heard of such a thing!”
“It'll work! It'll work! Please!”
Hummm—.
Hermit's body began to glow—and.
Electric-circuit-like lines on her body shone with vivid blue light.
I didn't fully get it, but she was clearly reinforcing those circuit things embedded in her body.
What if it failed?
Would she shatter and vanish like a destroyed item?
Whatever—next moment would tell.
“You selfish bitch! Obediently undergo the ascension ritual and become an ascendant! Through the ritual, become an idol, a new guardian deity protecting the Empire and humanity—that's your duty!”
Soon, blinding light enveloped Hermit, and finally—boom—a massive shockwave erupted.
When I came to, glowing-blue Hermit cheered.
“I... I did it? It worked! My magic circuits are stronger now!”
“...Whooo!?”
Wiseman's face twisted in soul-shaking horror.
I'd once seen a guy who'd dropped a first-prize lottery ticket in the river—his expression was exactly that.
“Human engineering, what nonsense... !?”
Hermit thrust her staff forward, casting the spell.
Crack. Crunch—.
Wiseman froze mid-word, kneeling like a statue.
Even Hermit was shocked.
“My spells are way more powerful now—!?”
Splash—.
The thieves set the mansion ablaze, but the downpour kept it from becoming a total disaster.
Lucky, I guess?
Still, most of the mansion burned.
All the antiques, magic books, valuables inside—up in smoke.
“Surviving a mad wizard like that is a miracle!”
The weasel surprisingly had a naive side.
But I was sad.
“Hammer's dead.”
“Yor! Why so down?”
Then Hammer approached me.
Patting my shoulder like a kid, but I was too sad.
“Hammer got hit by lightning—gasp? Hammer! How are you alive!?”
I'd seen him turn to bones with my own eyes?
Yet here he stood!
“I'm a bit special. Lightning won't kill me.”
Hammer scratched the back of his helmet sheepishly.
Whatever it was, he was alive—that's what mattered.
Relieved, I took in the surroundings.
Captain Ezekiel checked on Hermit.
“Hermit, how are you holding up?”
Hermit swung her arms around happily.
“Perfect!”
“We'll need more tests to know for sure, right?”
“Ugh... yeah... .”
Hermit was led away by Captain Ezekiel with the soldiers.
I took the chance to rummage the mansion more.
Hoping for something useful.
The weasel poked my back.
“Kekeke, we grabbed all the good stuff, so don't worry, bro!”
“Ooh! For real?”
“Then we gotta renegotiate the split. That 'treasure' in the warehouse turned out to be a mage girl, not some epic loot, right?”
Hermit had been in the warehouse.
A special order from Wiseman to lock up his adopted daughter.
We'd agreed 7:3 on warehouse treasure.
But you can't split a person 7:3.
So we voided that deal—and.
Agreed 5:5 on the rest of the loot.
How much was my share?
I'd have to calculate, but it better match our efforts.
At least ten million Ether.
We left the capital for the Great Wall.
Captain Ezekiel's consideration.
“Hammer Sergeant, I'll handle this mess. Take Yor and Felix and rest up.”
Captain Ezekiel, reliable as ever!
Riding down in the carriage.
“By the way, Hammer, I thought you were dead for sure.”
I asked Hammer for the full story.
“You definitely got zapped to bones!”
Hammer groaned in response.
“Long story.”
“Then I don't wanna hear it.”
“You've met Arkham, right? You know the Hammer Unit I served in specialized in taking down those half-dead freaks.”
“Yeah, Instructor Molraj told me.”
“An accident happened during my service there.”
Smooth—.
Hammer removed his glove and showed me his arm.
First time seeing his bare skin—got me tense.
Felix looked equally startled.
“Bone—!?”
Felix yelped.
As he said, Hammer's hand was white bone.
“You can see it—I was cursed by Arkham. It's been a while.”
Arkham.
Blood kin to the Erdarli demons.
The necromancer Arkham's slave puppets!
“Hammer! You're controlled by that corpse-fucker Arkham!?”
Fuck! Hammer on Arkham's level as an Erdarli.
A skeleton!
Shocking reveal left me dazed—but—.
“—Well, Hammer trusted a thief like me, so I'll trust him back!”
“Yor, that's a refreshingly simple way to think.”
“Thief, skeleton, knight! Three untrustworthy types trusting each other—kinda romantic!”
Khehehe—!
Felt romantic, so I rubbed my nose.
Felix looked miffed, though.
“...Why lump knights in with the untrustworthy ones?”
Still, he slowly lowered his hand from his sword hilt.
Back to the Great Wall!
Felt like coming home—total relief.
“Hehehe, time to grind Ether every day starting now.”
Party mage Hermit was at the Magic Tower for checkups, though.
So in that sense—.
“Nimbul, how you feeling? Ready for action?”
“...Grrr... .”
Nimbul's room.
Curled up on straw bedding.
Bandages wrapped tight all over—like a mummy.
“Ishtar, how's Nimbul?”
“Chirp, maybe his constitution? My healing spells aren't taking well. Old-fashioned, but potions and tonics it is!”
I changed Nimbul's bandages, took him for walks.
“Hey now, can't muzzle him, at least use a leash!”
“Too dangerous!”
“Our Nimbul doesn't bite.”
—Grrr...!
“Nope.”
Days passed, then a package from the weasel.
My share: 200 gold coins.
“200 gold... 40 million Ether!?”
Mood skyrocketed.
Dancing alone, someone smacked my back.
“What!”
“Hermit? Back from the Magic Tower already?”
“They poked and prodded, said no issues!”
Great!
With Hermit back, Ether farming could start today!
As I beamed, Hermit spoke robotically.
“If you guys hadn't come for me, I'd be dead like the other orphans I was adopted with. Thanks for that!”
“We went through a lot for it.”
I rubbed my itchy nose.
Hermit thrust out her hand.
“Then, as thanks, I'll grant you one special wish.”
“Huh? Wish?”
“Don't wanna owe a thief!”
“So you'll grant any wish?”
“Nothing weird!”
Hermit flushed angrily.
Nothing weird?
'What counts as weird!?'
Lightning flashed in my head.
Hermit glanced at me slyly, then looked away.
“Well, you did save me, so maybe letting you touch my boobs... .”