Episode 1054
Episode 1054
Of course, Gainando didn't notice. He was too busy whining to pay attention.
"Sniff sniff sniff."
"Stop whining, Your Highness. You came here willingly, so why are you acting like this now?"
Giselle scolded her Blue Dragon Tower friend from behind.
Seeing him suddenly act like this after coming here willingly, this prince really was excessively cowardly.
"...Who said I came here wil—! Sniff. Fine, I did come willingly."
Gainando, who had been about to protest, closed his mouth again under Lee Han's silent glare telling him to shut up.
"See? I told you to stop whining."
"......"
Gainando thought to himself.
Was laughing along with the Skeleton Principal really such a grave sin that deserved this much punishment? '...Well. It is a sin...' Upon reflection, it truly was an extremely unpleasant sin. Gainando found himself repenting anew.
Still, if there was one unfair thing, it was that the Skeleton Principal himself wasn't being punished.
"I wish the Headmaster had come with us too." 'Is he insane?' Giselle stared at Gainando with shocked eyes as he muttered to himself.
What on earth was he thinking to say something like that?
"So who are we trying to catch, Professor?"
Lee Han asked Professor Voladi.
Since they were following along, it was only natural to be curious about who their target was.
And also... 'We need to check if they're related to the Evil God Cult.' Though the professor didn't seem to have noticed yet, nothing in this world was absolute.
They needed to maintain careful, subtle surveillance.
"A mage."
"!"
Lee Han and Giselle exchanged startled glances.
Then they spoke simultaneously:
"He must be from Einrogard."
"No."
"......"
"......"
Lee Han and Giselle exchanged looks that said 'You made me say something stupid!' Gainando, who still hadn't grasped the situation, asked in confusion:
"You just said he's a mage, so why did you say he's from Einrogard?"
"...Good question."
"Don't ask, Your Highness."
"???"
As Gainando blinked in bewilderment, Professor Voladi explained about the wanted criminal with a bounty on his head.
The dwarf mage Toman was showing the typical career path of a mage not from the Empire's magic schools.
After living as an adventurer, he happened to obtain magic from a relic he found, became intoxicated by that magical power, started experimenting with various things, and gradually became more corrupt... 'Hmm. Doesn't seem much different from mages from Einrogard, though?' Lee Han secretly thought to himself.
Mages from the Empire's magic schools often said "self-taught mages without proper education are dangerous," but it didn't seem like being educated made them any less dangerous.
If anything, their education just made them more systematically dangerous in their misdeeds.
In fact, that Toman wasn't even called a magic criminal. At that level, the Empire just treated him as a petty offender.
"But is there any particular reason you chose this mage among all the wanted criminals?"
Lee Han casually asked.
As he did, he glanced at the wanted poster. He was wondering if there might be any records of evil god worship. 'For something the professor chose, this seems excessively ordinary.' The bounty wasn't even a few dozen gold coins, and he wasn't particularly dangerous either (his only crimes were stealing corpses from family graves and stealing 14 horses from a western ranch). For Professor Voladi to choose this...
Could there be some hidden detail Lee Han hadn't noticed?
"He's currently in the capital."
"?!"
Not just Lee Han, but Giselle was shocked too.
No matter how outstanding Professor Voladi was as a mage, who would have thought he could even track a wanted criminal's location?
"What is it? Do bounty hunters have methods like that?"
"Ah, no. I've never heard of anything like that. Maybe Professor Bagrak exchanges information with other bounty hunters?"
Giselle speculated in response to Lee Han's question.
The North had all kinds of bounty hunters coming and going, but none who could pinpoint someone's location without even seeing them.
"No. Moradi. That's impossible."
"Why do you say that?"
"Professor Bagrak would never have that wide of a social circle."
"......"
Giselle looked at Lee Han wondering if he was joking.
But the boy from the Wardanaz family looked completely serious. There wasn't the slightest hint that he was joking.
"I think it's Divination Magic."
"That's ridiculous. Using Divination Magic to find something like that..."
Divination Magic wasn't omnipotent.
If you wanted to find someone, you needed proper clues and leads. Without those, the difficulty would skyrocket insanely.
"If you gather enough clues and leads, wouldn't that suffice?"
In such cases, it was far more convenient to simply follow those leads. There was no need to rely on high-level magic like Divination.
Just look at Einrogard—didn't they cast a grand-scale spell spanning entire territories just to identify suitable students through divination?
The saying that the greater a divination mage is, the less they rely on magic didn't come from nowhere.
"You clearly found a way to bypass those limitations, didn't you, Professor? You located him using Divination Magic, right?"
At his student's question, filled with trust, Professor Voladi answered curtly.
"No. I obtained information from other hunters."
"......"
"Tch."
* * *
The dwarf mage and wanted criminal Toman was staying at a shabby inn near the southern gate of the capital.
The southern gate was a bustling area frequented by wandering adventurers and mercenaries, making it easy for fugitives to blend in without drawing attention.
Knock knock knock
"Who is it?"
"I've brought your meal."
"Leave it at the door and scram!"
Toman barked in a gruff voice.
While such a response might seem suspicious under normal circumstances, the attendant paid it no mind.
At this inn, guests reacting like that were far from rare.
As long as room and board were paid upfront, no one cared if you holed up in a corner to die.
"Damn tight-fisted, stingy bastards. Sending hunters after me just for stealing a few corpses..."
Toman muttered the same complaints countless black magic criminals before him had voiced.
Practicing undead-related black magic required corpses—more precisely, high-quality ones.
The strength a corpse possessed in life influenced the undead created from it.
But such corpses were naturally expensive, and most were hard to obtain even if you had the coin. What knight family in their right mind would sell their ancestors' remains for gold?
For the advancement of black magic, Toman had no choice but to resort to...
Sneaking into knight family crypts at midnight to steal bodies.
Sadly, the knight families failed to understand his noble cause. Not content with just reporting him, they even formed their own hunting parties.
Getting caught by imperial soldiers would have been manageable, but if the hunters got him, his head would likely be lopped off and his corpse dumped in some mountain. Grumbling, Toman pulled aside the wooden shutter and peered down at the street below. 'No one who looks like a knight, right?'Knock knock knock
"...Who is it?!"
Despite the attendant having just delivered his meal, someone knocked again, putting Toman on high alert.
He gripped his staff in one hand and a crossbow in the other, ready to chant a spell at a moment's notice.
If a fight broke out, Toman planned to unleash <Bone Arrow Shot>—the most vile and powerful black magic he could currently wield.
The bones were infused with his own specially developed toxic reagents, making the spell even more lethal. 'Just try coming in.'"I'm staying in the room next door."
"...What? What do you want?"
"Open the door. Let's talk, Toman. You wouldn't want me reporting you to the Empire, would you?"
"!!!"
The dwarf mage's eyes widened in shock.
He hadn't done anything noticeable since arriving at this inn—how did this person know his exact name?'This bastard...!'Having seized the initiative, the other party continued in a placating tone.
"Toman. I'm not here to turn you in. As a fellow fugitive from the Empire, I have a proposal for you."
"A proposal?"
"That's right. Open the door. Lower your weapons. If you fire by accident, I can't guarantee your safety."
"......"
After a moment of hesitation, Toman cautiously opened the door.
Surprisingly, standing before him was the inn's elderly stablehand—a frail-looking attendant who normally struggled with managing guests' mounts, someone whose face was barely memorable.
Flustered, Toman asked,
"You... you. I saw you when I checked in. What was your name? Aren't you just a stablehand?"
"Names are unimportant. So are occupations. What matters is true faith."'An Evil God Worshipper!'The term flashed through Toman's mind in an instant.
The only people in the Empire who went around doing weird shit like this were cultists.
"...Which sect do you belong to?"
"That, I cannot tell you. Toman. You're not yet worthy of knowing."
The old employee spoke with a fierce glint in his eyes.
"Talking about qualifications, are you? Who said anything about wanting to join?"
"Is that really how you feel? Be honest, Toman. Aren't you tired of being hunted? Aren't you sick of searching for reagents all alone, without any guild, workshop, or magic tower to protect you?"
"......"
Toman wavered slightly.
It was undeniably true. A mage on the run in the Empire had no leisure to dedicate himself to magic.
Evil God Worshippers were unsettling, but on the other hand, they weren't without their uses.
Couldn't he just take their help and then escape at the right moment?
"What are you trying to say?"
"Here, Toman. Take this."
The old employee tossed a small, grotesquely carved wooden idol. It looked more like a monster than a god, hideous and repulsive.
"Offer a sacrifice to this and pray. Then you'll get what you desire."
"Hah. What nonsense is this...?"
Toman scoffed.
Few in the Empire hadn't visited a temple and prayed at least once in their childhood.
And even fewer had ever seen any effect from such prayers.
Every coin was precious when you were on the run—why would he waste offerings on some Evil God?
"I don't have time to waste on prayers. If this is all you have to say, get lost!"
"Toman. The god I serve is called the Fair Regent. Do you know what that means? He never ignores an offering. Just try it. You won't regret it. And if you change your mind, come find me."
The employee said no more and quietly closed the door.
Normally, Toman would have dismissed it, but the man's confident demeanor unsettled him instead.
That kind of attitude was hard to fake unless you truly believed in what you were saying.
"......"
Toman rummaged through his reagent pouch and pulled out a large monster's liver. Gripping the idol, he prayed earnestly.
"!!!"
In an instant, Toman was startled by a surge of mana. When he opened his eyes, the idol seemed to be grinning ominously.
Mesmerized, Toman stared at the idol. It was as if it was whispering to him—'Bring me more.'
More.
And more drenched in blood...
Knock knock knock
"What now?!"
The third knock that day made Toman's temper snap.
Why did they keep bothering him?
"Sir! The kitchen stove downstairs is on fire!"
Under normal circumstances, Toman would have found this suspicious and immediately fled through the window.
But now, his judgment was dulled by his first transaction with the Evil God.
Without thinking, Toman opened the door.
"What could possibly be so important that— Gah!"
"!"
Just as Toman was shocked, Lee Han and his friends were equally surprised.
Professor Voladi had predicted the target would escape through the window. 'What?' Thwack!
Blows landed on Toman's head and solar plexus. Lee Han struck with his staff, and Giselle attacked with her scabbard.
The frail dwarf mage, caught off guard, collapsed forward without even a scream.
"W-what a shock...!"
Only after the opponent fell did Lee Han exclaim in surprise. Gainando thought to himself, 'For someone who's shocked, he was awfully calm while beating him up.' If this was his reaction when startled, Gainando wondered how he'd act when not surprised at all.
"W-wait. L-let's negotiate."
"If you've hidden any reagents, speak up now. Otherwise, a much scarier and stronger mage will hurt you far worse than we did if you try casting any spells later."
Ignoring him, Lee Han bound Toman. The standard procedure when subduing a mage was to first confiscate their staff and reagents, then gag them.
"T-there's an Evil God Worshipper! Aren't they more tempting prey than me?"
"Don't fall for it, Wardanaz. He's just trying to weasel his way out."
Giselle wasn't buying it.
Fugitives always resorted to desperate lies when cornered.
"I know. Don't worry."
"It's true! Look at this idol! It's an Evil God called the Fair Regent...!"
"...You bastard! How dare you try such a cheap trick!"
Lee Han panicked and hastily restrained him tighter.
In the process, his mana erupted with an intimidating pressure. Not only did the terrified dwarf mage flinch, but even Giselle and Gainando were startled.
"W-what's wrong, Lee Han? Are you angry?"
"This shameless criminal who broke the Empire's laws is mocking us!"
"T-that's not worth getting so angry over...? No, never mind!"
Gainando quickly shut his mouth, afraid of provoking him further.