The Pitiful Black Mage's Bait
The preparations for raiding the ruins moved at lightning speed. They were so fast that the exploration team was assembled the moment the festival ended. Of course, because the ruins carried such a massive reputation, they didn't recruit openly. Instead, they worked with the Adventurer's Guild to quietly summon only the necessary adventurers through targeted requests, while the majority of the manpower was drawn directly from the Count's household. That was only natural, since these were the ruins of Edenberg's founding Count.
"The founding Count's ruins, huh."
"I've been interested in ruins for a while. This should be fun."
The exploration team's faces were bright as they left the city in secret. Being chosen for this meant they had proven their qualifications in one way or another. Being personally selected by the Count's third son was the highest honor a Northerner confident in their own strength could receive. As a result, it was hard to find anyone in the exploration team with a poor expression.
Except for one person.
"Why am I even here?"
Our very own pitiful black mage, Neon. A black mage whose freedom of movement was still heavily restricted because he hadn't fully proven his innocence. A black mage who had switched to black magic out of jealousy and was now suffering for it. A black mage who had been drinking and swapping stories with adventurers until late last night, only to be dragged away at dawn like a kidnapping.
"Drink some water first."
I handed him a cup of cold water as he clutched his throbbing head, still not fully sober.
"Ah. Thanks. But can you tell me why I'm here?"
"Because you're a black mage, obviously."
"Why did I ever become a black mage...!"
Neon groaned in agony, once again cursing his foolish past. A middle-aged man standing behind him watched with a warm, satisfied gaze. The Heretic Inquisitor who followed Neon everywhere he went quietly approached my side.
"Black Mage Neon will likely receive official recognition from the Holy Kingdom soon."
"Really?"
"His crimes were minor, and his achievements in such a short time were exceptional."
That made sense. He'd admitted himself that he hadn't been a black mage for long and had mostly just done research, so his sins probably weren't that severe. If that research had involved human experimentation, things would have been different, but the Church wasn't stupid. If he'd done something like that, he wouldn't have been alive in the first place. The priests who served the God of Truth and Justice were not to be trifled with.
Since the price he had to pay wasn't too heavy, it seemed his recent activities had been enough to make up for it. The Heretic Inquisitor nodded with satisfaction.
"It would be best for Black Mage Neon to continue operating in the North. His abilities seem perfectly suited for dealing with the monsters here."
From the sound of it, even after becoming an official black mage, rolling around in the dirt was his inescapable fate. I silently offered a prayer for Neon's soul, knowing how different this was from the hope he'd shared at the guild yesterday—that once he became an official black mage, he'd head to the Central region and live a comfortable life doing research.
Completely unaware that his future had already been decided, Neon looked at Veil with desperate eyes.
"Lord Veil! I will only trust in you!"
"Don't worry. Your achievements in the North have been remarkable."
"Once I'm an official black mage, I'll wash my hands of this and live a good life!"
Watching Neon cling to Veil like that while the latter happily pondered how to make use of an official black mage, I couldn't help thinking the poor guy really had terrible luck. At least I was certain he would never leave the North. With that thought, we set off.
It didn't take long to reach our destination. The entrance that revealed itself on the mountainside not far from Asus Mountain gave off a profoundly mysterious atmosphere. It blended so naturally with its surroundings that you could easily miss it if you weren't paying close attention. Even then, we probably wouldn't have found it without the tents pitched around the entrance.
One of the guild staff examining the entrance looked surprised.
"I had no idea there were ruins on this mountain. This is practically my hometown, yet I never knew."
"It was only exposed recently by a landslide."
Even if a landslide had revealed it, the fact that they'd found it at all was astonishing. Veil, who already knew the details, praised the informants who had set up the tents and waited.
"Well done. As always, your abilities are truly remarkable."
"It's nothing special. This is our profession, after all."
"Still, it's impressive. There will be generous rewards waiting when you return, so look forward to it."
At Veil's words, the informants' faces brightened. His generosity was evident even in how he rewarded people. Since rewards came in proportion to results, the informants thumped their chests, showing their loyalty.
Veil watched them with a pleased expression, then straightened his back and gazed at the entrance to the ruins. Though covered in tree roots and dirt, beyond it lay a neatly carved stone passageway.
"So this is the ruins of our ancestor—the one our forebears cursed so much?"
"Lord Veil."
"Ah, I know. I won't openly insult him, so don't worry."
At Veil's words, the people around him averted their eyes. Their silent reaction made it clear they didn't believe him for a second. Neon watched with a fascinated expression.
"Is the North always like this? The nobles here don't seem like nobles at all."
"What about the Central region?"
"At the very least, you'd never see anything like this there."
"Hmm."
I didn't answer Neon's question right away. Thanks to my past-life memories, I knew the North was unique in many ways. But since I didn't know how nobles from other regions behaved, I couldn't compare the two. Still, knowing how Northern nobles acted, I gave a rough explanation.
"Northern nobles are mostly like that. They come from a warrior background, so they're bold and straightforward. It's also common for adventurers to become nobles here, so the class gap isn't as big."
Of course, that didn't mean you could act like their equal without consequences. Especially since nobles had developed specialized training methods over generations, granting them exceptional power. If you provoked one while they were angry, even I couldn't say what would happen.
That was why I'd been extra polite when Hornst Baron got angry.
Just imagining it is terrifying.
I shuddered, remembering the moment Hornst Baron had lost his temper. I wondered how the group that had passed through the North and headed to the Central region was doing now, but I didn't dwell on it. It was time to begin the ruins exploration.
"Everyone ready?"
"Yes!"
The exploration team answered Veil's question with vigor. Their faces were filled with confidence. The team's composition was as follows: Veil Edenberg, the third son of the Edenberg Countship. Ten members of the Blue Deer Knights, including Veil's personal guards. Five professional treasure hunters and twelve adventurers. And fifty security forces.
Considering the size of the ruins, it was a large group. But there was a reason they'd brought so many people in secret.
"Black Mage Neon. It's your turn to shine. If this goes smoothly, I'll put in a good word for you."
"Leave it to me!"
Hearing that Veil would help him become an official black mage, Neon showed his motivation and smoothly drew up his dark mana. In a short time, his hellish suffering in the North had caused him to grow remarkably. Especially since, even as a mage, he'd spent his life doing nothing but research and had been far removed from combat.
After months of dancing with death, he'd grown so strong that it was hard to believe he was only at the third circle. He gathered his dark mana and fired it into the dungeon.
Kyaaaaaaaak!
Kiriririririk!!
Kkeugeueaaaaak!
The moment the monsters' bloodthirsty roars echoed from beyond the passage, Neon ran backward without hesitation. These weren't creatures a mere third-circle black mage could handle. He dove straight into the waiting Heretic Inquisitor's arms. The Inquisitor skillfully hoisted Neon over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes.
"Inquisitor! Anywhere is fine, just send me somewhere without monsters!"
"Then how about the Church's basement..."
"Anywhere but there!"
As the Inquisitor carried Neon back, countless monsters poured out of the entrance as if they'd been waiting. Monsters of various races and appearances fixed their eyes solely on Neon—the black mage who had sent dark mana their way. They charged forward with the single purpose of killing him.
Veil, watching the scene from a distance, smiled with satisfaction and shouted.
"All units! Eliminate the monsters!"
At Veil's command, the exploration team maintained their pre-arranged formation and attacked. Thanks to Neon periodically using black magic to make his presence known, the monsters' attention remained fixed on him. Taking advantage of that opening, they struck. Monsters that would have been troublesome otherwise fell quickly.
The effect was so outstanding that the adventurers and knights gathered with serious expressions, putting their heads together in discussion.
"Should we raise black mages?"
"It'd be nice if we had ten Neons."
"Considering how much monsters hate black mages, the risk is too high."
"Can't we use the unofficial black mages the Church keeps?"
"Who could trust those guys? If they go on a suicide rampage with a 'you die, I die' attitude, there's no cleaning up the mess."
Neon, who had just been set down from the Inquisitor's shoulder and was dry-heaving from motion sickness, looked horrified at the warriors seriously considering this.
"Don't those guys have any humanity?"
"What's wrong with it? The results are good, aren't they?"
"Well, that's true, but..."
Neon couldn't find any words to refute me. Honestly, even from his perspective, the effect had been incredible. Seeing him worry that the number of victims(?) might increase due to the monsters' unusually violent reaction—even he found it bizarre—I decided to comfort him, thinking of our past relationship.
"Still, the number of black mages in the North won't increase."
"Really?"
"Weak monsters can come as much as they want, but if a strong monster is drawn by dark mana and heads for the city, it'll cause a catastrophe."
For example, the mother of that Nepentula bastard that tormented you for two months.
After hearing the explanation, Neon made a face of realization. A monster with territory was practically a natural disaster. Unless faced by high-ranking adventurers, powerful knights, or nobles, they were impossible to deal with. Even if successfully defended against, they would leave massive damage. And that was if everyone was fully prepared. If such a creature appeared in an unprepared city, the resulting catastrophe would be beyond words.
Seeing Neon relax at my explanation, I swallowed the last thing I'd been about to say.
Even so, you rolling around in the North is an inescapable fate.
Given the North's nature, they probably wouldn't tie him to any specific faction. But considering how useful Neon was, they would at least recruit him as an adventurer. They wouldn't force him to work, but they'd probably pair him with highly motivated adventurers as a companion and make full use of him.
I didn't say it out loud. If I told him now, Neon would fall into despair and lose his will. I gave the hope-circuit-burning Neon one last pitiful glance, then moved to the front of the exploration team.
"I'll leave the cleanup to you. I'll enter the founding ancestor's ruins with the exploration team and return."
"Leave it to us. We'll cleanly butcher all the byproducts."
After entrusting the aftermath to the security forces, the exploration team entered the ruins alongside Veil.