The Black Mage Who Knows How to Bargain
The black mage who knew how to bargain had unintentionally realized the truth, yet nothing had changed. Even with his mind in turmoil, this wasn't a situation where he could afford to relax, so he began cleaning up the aftermath. First, he considered what to do with the baby Nepentula.
"Carrying the baby Nepentula would be difficult."
"We should contact the guild and call a retrieval team."
Even a baby, a Nepentula was still a Nepentula. The fabric woven from its silk threads could block aura. Its synthetic poison served as a valuable alchemical material. And when its corpse was ground into fertilizer, it performed magic that completed crop growth in just one month. The three adventurers' eyes gleamed as they gazed at the baby Nepentula's corpse.
"Whatever else, we have to secure the corpse."
"They say a Nepentula's price changes depending on the weight of its corpse."
In the North, where arable land was desperately scarce, the most valuable byproduct of a Nepentula was its corpse. While the silk threads and synthetic poison were expensive too, they fell somewhat short compared to the corpse. After all, threads and poison could be substituted, but fertilizer made from the corpse could not.
So while I pondered which guild-affiliated retrieval team to call, I stared intently at the corpse.
"If we're lucky, it might fit in the inventory."
The inventory was a space unaffected by volume or weight. Still, this was the first time I'd tried storing such a large corpse, so I felt uneasy. But with a "maybe" feeling, I attempted to put the corpse into the inventory.
Whoosh!
"Oh?"
As the magic unfolded and the massive corpse vanished as if it were a lie, the adventurers who had been discussing retrieval teams turned their gazes toward me.
"What was that just now?"
"Dimensional magic?"
"A fascinating ability!"
When the three adventurers asked with surprised expressions, I scratched my head. Honestly, even I hadn't expected it to work.
"It's called an inventory. Something like a pocket dimension granted by a Mystery."
After I gave a simple explanation and moved on, they seemed to have no intention of rudely prying into someone else's Mystery and accepted it, backing off.
"Then, since the corpse issue is resolved, shall we discuss what to do with the black mage next?"
Next, we discussed the black mage's treatment. For now, the black mage claimed he was fine anywhere as long as it wasn't near monsters and bound himself voluntarily. Upon checking, it seemed he had been suffering from the baby Nepentula's hallucination-inducing poison for several weeks and didn't even want to draw out his black mana. Well, if he'd been tormented for weeks, it made sense he'd hate it. Creating minions out of animals because he feared monsters would only stimulate the baby Nepentula. But if he stopped making minions, he wouldn't know when the stimulated baby Nepentula might attack. Fearing that, making minions again would stimulate the baby Nepentula once more, trapping him in an endless cycle where he could do neither. From the black mage's perspective, living must not have felt like living at all.
"But why did you become a black mage?"
"It's a bit of an embarrassing reason...."
Suddenly curious about why the guy had become a black mage, I asked. The black mage gave a bitter smile and averted his gaze. Now that I thought about it, it was curious. Even while his mind wavered, seeing him turn dozens of animals into minions with black mana showed his talent wasn't bad. So what problem had driven him to become a black mage?
"There was a genius among the people I knew."
"Don't tell me you became a black mage out of jealousy toward that guy?"
"There are complex reasons, but in conclusion, yes."
What a properly crazy bastard. No matter what, becoming a black mage out of jealousy. The black mage before my eyes had not only let his talent rot but thrown it straight into the trash. So when I looked at him with a pitiful gaze, the guy blushed, perhaps feeling ashamed.
"I-I know it's weird too! But back then, I was blinded by anger and....!"
As he continued speaking, the black mage's shoulders slumped as he realized his own ugliness. Seeing that miserable appearance, I patted his shoulder and comforted him.
"It's okay. It can happen while living."
Atonement would be handled by the inquisitors from the Edenberg Church branch. If he spent some cozy time with those folks, he'd probably even confess what he ate as a newborn baby. Expressing sincere condolences to the black mage who would soon experience the mysteries of the human body, the guy also put on a serious expression, perhaps sensing his own future.
"Could I perhaps make a deal with you guys?"
"No intention of letting you go. Just have a cozy chat with the inquisitors."
"Just listen for a moment! It's a good proposal for you too!"
When I looked at the desperately speaking black mage with skeptical eyes, he put on a thick face and explained diligently.
"I poured all my attention solely into revenge and never committed any bad deeds."
"So?"
"Since there's room for leniency, give me the chance to become an official black mage."
An official black mage, huh. Although the perception of black mages had hit rock bottom, not all black mages were bad, so such a qualification existed. Since it was directly certified by the Church, it required going through an extremely strict procedure. The fact that he was willing to challenge it meant he had confidence in his innocence.
"Of course, you probably won't believe me even if I say this, so I'll swear before the Priest of Truth."
"If you're bringing out the Priest of Truth, you must be sincere."
At the black mage's attitude of even bringing out the Priest of Truth, I rubbed my chin. The Priest of Truth could distinguish truth from lies through holy law. Thanks to that holy law, the Priests of Truth were active across a wide range. The Adventurer's Guild also maintained close ties with the Church of Truth to verify the success of requests. By placing the adventurer who completed the request before the priest and having them say they successfully completed the request, the Priest of Truth would determine whether the words were factual. Knowing how competent they were thanks to that, I rubbed my chin and pondered.
"Where are you affiliated?"
"The Flame of Doom. It's an organization active in the Central region."
The Flame of Doom, huh. So he had been active in quite a large place.
"What kind of information can you provide?"
"The locations of branches in the Central region, the plans of the Flame of Doom. And information about the academy attack."
"Academy attack information?"
At the black mage's words, my expression changed strangely. How many academies existed on the continent that simply saying "academy attack" would make sense? Since I was thinking of the names of academies that existed at least three or more in each country, the black mage seemed to realize his mistake, cleared his throat, and mentioned the name of the academy they were planning to attack.
"The place the Flame of Doom is targeting is Orbis Academy."
Orbis Academy. At the familiar name, my expression hardened.
"Orbis? The one considered the best in the Empire?"
"That's right."
"The Orbis Academy where the imperial prince, the kingdom's princess, children of great nobles, disciples of magic tower lords, the saintess, and all the famous kids attend, said to be this year's golden generation?"
"Exactly."
Huh. From the moment that brother and sister suddenly said they were going to the academy, something had felt off. So it was an academy story after all?
"It wasn't because that old man Werner tempted them into going to the academy."
Well. With that talent and looks, they'd at least be protagonist-level. Thinking that the siblings might be dual protagonists, I lightly moved on. Though I half-jokingly thought it might be an academy story, I couldn't know if that was true or not. I couldn't be certain it was really an academy story just from hearing that. Because the North had its own story.
"But is it okay to lay out all your cards from the beginning?"
"Since it's a story I'd tell the inquisitors anyway, it's better to bring it out from the start and gain favor."
This guy got smarter after escaping the hallucination. Did he only come to his senses after the baby Nepentula died? Nodding at his wise conduct, the black mage who had been looking around for a moment lowered his voice and said.
"As far as I know, honor is extremely important to the warriors of the North."
It wasn't particularly a secret. What the Northerners always sang about was strength and honor, something people from other regions also knew. The black mage who had been whispering unnecessarily to create atmosphere in a space with only us brought out his full proposal.
"I know the locations of the black mages who came up to the North."
"How do you know that?"
"Even like this, I'm a talented black mage."
So he was someone recognized in the organization. No matter how many black mages there were in the North, catching even one would bring a hefty reward. Moreover, the three adventurers could gain honor. At the black mage's proposal that precisely dug into what we wanted, I smiled faintly.
This guy. He's a black mage who knows how to bargain.
"Deal."
We accepted the black mage's proposal without hesitation.
***
The 3rd-circle black mage, Neon, looked at Argo with serious eyes. He was grinning as if imagining something, but the feats he had shown were by no means ordinary. Not to mention the summons he'd never seen before in his life. What kind of summoner could step on the back of a giant spider rampaging like mad and accurately stab its eyes?
'I knew the North was an inhuman realm, but I never imagined a summoner would display movements superior to a knight.'
Neon had felt many shocks after coming up to the North, but the greatest shock was the average physical prowess of the people here. It was absurd that a 4-year-old snot-nosed kid had learned mana, which in the Central region would require at least being a Silver-class mercenary. What was truly absurd was that villages were no different from small fortresses. They built walls with thick timber, dug moats if there was a river nearby, and apprentice knight-level guards were always on standby. If anything happened, at least dozens of mana users would come pouring out to respond, so from his perspective as a Central native, there was no greater terror than this. The fact that monsters capable of sweeping away such villages with ease existed throughout the North was cosmic horror. Having rolled around in such a demonic realm for several months and experienced it with his body, Neon realized. That Argo was clearly an irregular even by Northern standards.
'Considering the abilities he showed, he awakened a useful Mystery. Considering the talent he possesses, he's better than most geniuses.'
He knew because he had once desperately tried to catch up to a genius. Argo's talent wasn't quite at the genius level, but there was something strange about him that couldn't be known from talent alone. The black mage who had once hated geniuses but come to his senses in the North made a resolution in his heart.
'If I can't win, I'll join.'
Even if he became an official black mage, sharp gazes would follow him for a while. Even if he proved his innocence, since he had a record, to shake off those gazes, he needed to prove himself. Neon intended to prove it by hunting down black mages.
'Thinking about it now, it doesn't make sense. Why was I burning with revenge?'
Neon, reborn in the North, couldn't understand his past self from a few months ago and felt grateful for being alive.