Episode 1017
Episode 1017
'But One Must Learn Even from the Enemy'
An outstanding Einrogard student knows how to glean lessons even from vicious foes.
Lee Han firmly resolved that whenever he encountered wicked individuals in the future, he would immediately attempt to sow discord among them first.
"I'll try deceiving them."
"Understood."
'Huh?'
Lee Han was slightly taken aback when his fellow expedition members agreed so readily. He had expected them to say it was too soon or try to stop him.
"Are you sure? If I make even a single mistake, everyone could be in danger..."
"How could that possibly happen?"
"We trust you, Honored Mage."
The expedition members responded instantly, as if questioning why he would even ask. Alsicle, who was being carried on Lee Han's back, muttered in a pitying tone:
"After seeing how you've performed all the way up here, Wardanaz, anyone who doubted you would've been screened out of the expedition for intelligence issues in the first place..."
"...Please be quiet."
"Something's off."
Kitarenanum glanced around warily. The half-giant warrior asked irritably:
"Are more of those monsters coming up?"
"No. Something else... It feels ominous."
"Then do a divination."
At the warrior's words, Kitarenanum made an extremely annoyed face.
"I'm not that kind of mage. How many times do I have to say it—mages can't do everything."
It was exceedingly rare for a mage to be proficient in all schools of magic. Every mage had their weaknesses, and for Kitarenanum, that was Divination Magic.
Rather than attempting an unreliable divination, the mage chose to rest instead.
Whoosh!
The mage took out a small, human-shaped doll that moved as if alive—and burned it.
Though it was only a rudimentary human sacrifice, it was enough to recover his mana and replenish his spells.
'I should prepare more powerful spells just in case... You never know.'
Kitarenanum replaced the magic composing his arm with a stronger variant.
This Secret Art—condensing magic itself into physical form—was Kitarenanum's proud specialty. While it allowed him to cast powerful spells instantly and precisely, it also required preparation.
Bracing for unforeseen dangers, Kitarenanum prepared additional human sacrifices. If a battle broke out, he planned to amplify his magic's power by offering the remaining sacrifices.
"Enemies."
"!"
Startled by the warrior's words, Kitarenanum asked:
"How close are they?"
"About fifty steps up the small staircase. Their vibrations are different from the monsters'."
"Do they seem hostile?"
"Hard to say. They don't seem to have hostile intent, but those Empire-collared lapdogs are so stupid..."
"We request negotiations!"
The two exchanged glances. Kitarenanum immediately tried to activate the human sacrifice he had prepared—
But right then, interference struck.
Reverse Magic—a technique used by mages to detect and disrupt another mage's spell!
Crackle!
"???!!!"
Kitarenanum was stunned when his human sacrifice was blocked by a mage who hadn't even shown his face from the staircase above.
'What the—?!?!?'
He couldn't believe it.
Even when face-to-face, successfully countering a spell was never easy. To precisely interfere and sabotage another's magic before it was even cast required—in a way—an even deeper understanding than the opponent's.
But now, at such a distance that they couldn't even see each other, someone had successfully used Reverse Magic based solely on sensing mana fluctuations? A chill ran down Kitarenanum's spine.
"What? What's wrong?"
"Was there... a Grand Mage among the expedition?"
"No."
Kitarenanum racked his memory.
There definitely hadn't been any names worth noting—just mages from the Pengerin Family or the Green Jade Magic Tower.
Was there really someone among them capable of toying with his magic like this?
The magic criminal felt not anger, but humiliation and terror.
It was just like when he had faced Antagondals, another magic criminal and archmage in the past.
"Get a hold of yourself, mage."
"Shut up, demon! You have no idea how incredible this is!"
At this level, the gap was so vast that it was almost as if the opponent was toying with him.
For Kitarenanum, who had been confident that—excluding archmages—there were no opponents among the Empire's relatively young mages who could match him, this was a devastating shock.
He never imagined that his opponent might have already encountered numerous magic criminals and thus had thoroughly practiced techniques to counter the Secret Art of Human Sacrifice in advance.
"...Uh, did I make the wrong choice?"
"No. You did well."
Alsicle shook his head as he saw Lee Han's bewildered expression.
There was no telling what the enemy might do—they couldn't just leave the human sacrifice magic unchecked. If they could stop it, stopping it was absolutely the right call.
"More importantly, how did you manage to cast reverse magic from this distance?"
"The Headmaster kept forcing me to practice it."
"That figures. This semester must have been really tough for you."
"I learned it last year."
"......"
Alsicle clamped his beak shut. Meanwhile, the enemy shouted first.
"What's your goal?! Right now, dimensional erosion is happening here, and monsters are swarming everywhere. Are you trying to get us all killed? Huh?"
'That must be the warrior with giant blood mixed in,' Alsicle thought to himself before declaring his name.
"I am Alsicle of the Pengerin Family. Are there any other mages with you?"
"Alsicle of the Pengerin Family... I'll remember that."
Kitarenanum gritted his teeth.
He would absolutely avenge the humiliation and frustration he felt today.
"I'll be honest. I didn't expect you to be such an exceptional mage."
"What? ...No. It wasn't me who blocked your human sacrifice magic—it was my junior here."
At Alsicle's words, the half-giant warrior and the magic criminal exchanged glances.
The warrior immediately spoke up.
"That's a trick. He's trying to shake you."
-Don't fall for such tricks.
"I know that too."
Kitarenanum's estimation of Alsicle rose even higher. To try and unsettle him in this situation—this was no ordinary opponent.
The tense standoff made Bashirmac restless. There was no telling when the monsters might swarm in.
"Hey! Aren't you spellcasters all buddies?! Instead of fighting in this situation, why not cooperate for a bit? This mage here is also from the Empire's Magic Academy! He might even be your senior!"
"Useless drivel..."
Kitarenanum frowned at the half-giant warrior's ignorant rambling, but the effect was shockingly strong.
Lee Han's face looked as if the sky had collapsed.
"W-Wardanaz. Calm down. It hasn't been confirmed that he's from Einrogard."
Alsicle whispered hurriedly, trying to soothe Lee Han, but it backfired.
"Senior Alsicle, you know the truth too, don't you? That's why you didn't say Einrogard wasn't mentioned—because you know he's not from there!"
"...Well, yes, but it's not confirmed yet!"
Lee Han let out a deep sigh.
As a fellow magic academy graduate, he felt ashamed and miserable, but now wasn't the time to be swayed by such emotions.
'Right. Whether the opponent is from Einrogard or not, what does it matter?'
In the future, he'd encounter magic criminals from Einrogard as often as eggs in a basket—he couldn't afford to be shaken.
"Even if we were from the same Einrogard, I wouldn't go easy on you in this situation!"
"Baldrogard."
"What?"
"Not Einrogard—Baldrogard. I'm from Baldrogard. You brats."
"......"
"......"
An awkward and subtle silence hung between the three mages. Only Bashirmac, unfamiliar with the delicate culture of spellcasters, looked puzzled.
"What? What is it?"
"Shut up, you idiot. This is exactly why I didn't want to say it."
The most irritating reaction when dealing with mages from the Empire wasn't hostility, contempt, or condemnation.
It was that awkward, subtle reaction that came when you revealed you were from Baldrogard.
And that reaction was especially severe among mages from Einrogard.
-What? He's from Baldrogard? Then how did he become a magic criminal?
-Ugh! He's quite strong...! How can someone from Baldrogard use magic like this?
Even when defeated and bleeding profusely, their genuinely pure curiosity asking 'How can someone from Baldrogard use magic like this?' left deep scars on Kitarenanum's pride.
Of course, pride wasn't something only Kitarenanum possessed.
"..."
"You spell-flinger. You want to die? In this distance, will your magic come out faster or will my fist rip out your tongue first?"
While the two were pointlessly arguing, Lee Han and Alsicle were having their own unnecessary conversation.
"Are there really criminals from Baldrogard too???"
"Of course there are... Is that even a question?"
"Ah, no. I mean yes, but... I see. But... right."
'He looks more shocked than when that evil god worshipper attacked the palace.' Lee Han shook his head to snap out of his daze.
Truthfully, it was only natural that there would be criminals from Baldrogard, and among them magic criminals too...
It's just hard to accept.
"Let's think positively, Wardanaz. If he'd been from Einrogard, he would've been several times more troublesome. It's precisely because he's from Baldrogard that we can handle him like this."
"That's both comforting and not comforting at the same time."
Thanks to the noise-canceling magic Alsicle had cast, fortunately their conversation didn't reach the others.
If Kitarenanum had heard, he would've tried to fight to the death regardless of monsters or anything else.
"I'm willing to agree to a temporary alliance!"
At Lee Han's shout, the two who'd been arguing paused.
"Really?"
"Yeah. You know as well as I do that the monsters are stronger than expected."
"That's true..."
Just as Kitarenanum was about to agree, something flashed through his mind and he asked,
"Wait. Did you guys mess with something? If you stole some valuable treasure from those monsters..."
At first, he'd thought the monsters suddenly changing priorities meant they'd found some new, more appetizing prey.
But no matter how he thought about it, that didn't seem reason enough for such a drastic shift.
Both Kitarenanum and Bashirmac were plenty tempting prey themselves.
"What are you talking about?"
When Alsicle asked in confusion, Kitarenanum explained the phenomenon they'd witnessed earlier. 'Testing them.' If the expedition members had stolen and secured something like monster eggs, they absolutely needed to reclaim them.
"???"
"We didn't have anything like that!"
Naturally, since they hadn't taken anything, Lee Han and Alsicle were bewildered.
"Hmm."
Being an excellent mage, Alsicle began deducing from the given clues.
Seeing his reliable senior mage in action, Lee Han gave him an expectant look.
"There is one possibility that comes to mind."
"What possibility?"
"You know when that phenomenon they experienced happened. If you think about it, it was right when we encountered the monsters."
"Are you saying someone in our group secretly stole monster eggs!?"
"...How would that work when we were moving together? And if that were the case, they would've come much sooner."
"Then what is it?"
Alsicle stared pointedly at Lee Han.
If what that magic criminal said was true, there was only one highly plausible explanation.
The monsters were coveting Lee Han.
While Alsicle couldn't fully comprehend the thought process of creatures from the Void, considering Lee Han's mana, it wasn't entirely surprising.
"Me? They did attack me more aggressively, but I thought that was just because I annoyed them so much..."
Lee Han showed skepticism at the idea that monsters he'd never met before would be coveting him.
Then the baby basilisk, who'd been listening quietly, spoke up decisively.
-Master.
"Hmm?"
-I think that explanation is correct...!
"...May I ask what made you think that way to feel so certain?"